Stray Dog Strut
by A True Radical Dreamer
Summary: Angel's second death set off a chain of events that leads Buffy down a different path in life. With a few twists, turns, and complete 180s, Buffy learns just what it takes to really break free of the Slayer. Begins @ end of season 2. Dark!Buffy, Hiatus.
1. The More Things Change

**Important Note:** Okay, so here's the deal if you haven't read my profile in a few days. Short version is my main pc flash fried in a power surge. Along with it went all of my stories and updates for pretty much everything but this little jem here. So, while I try and get my main pc fixed, I'll write for this. If Buffy isn't your thing, then that's fine.

Disclaimer: Don't own Buffy or make money from this fiction.

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**Chapter 1: The More Things Change**

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Of all the days, of all the towns, and of all the girls, Buffy Summers wondered just why fate had seen fit to shackle this fate to her. She was only a teenager, just a normal person who was content to be a cheerleader with a hobby. But no, fate couldn't leave it at that.

Slaying was, formally, a hobby to the somber blond walking towards Sunnydale's largest bus station. Well, its only bus station really.

Sure, Buffy had died in the line of duty before, saved the world, and actually killed things but it was a hobby that she imagined herself one day getting tired of. It was last night, and the events leading up to last night, that really drove the stake home that this was now her life. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, her official title, was now a broad adjective to describe her station. There was no "Buffy the high school student" or "Buffy the girl that has the hot boyfriend" anymore. The Slayer had taken over.

Angel. There, Buffy could think the name without bursting into tears. He had been himself at the end. How had he regained his humanity? Had Willow somehow gotten through the spell even with all of her ingredients scattered? No, that couldn't have been it; she had met up with Xander and he hadn't mentioned anything like that. In fact, he had even said that Willow wished her luck. No, it would have to be something else.

Still, what was going to happen now? No place to go, kicked out of school, and a dead boyfriend. It was time to just escape, Buffy decided. The bus station would be open now and the school was on the way there. Kill two birds with one stone. A somber goodbye to her happy little life.

Unbenounced to the distraught teen, however, was the figure lurking just outside the Summers home. Well, he was lurking in the sewers, anyway. This person had been ordered to keep a watch on the Slayer and had heard most of the row between the elder Summers and her daughter the night before and now the Slayer was sneaking around? Oh, this was great. No more Slayer in Sunnydale! Question was, what should he do with this little bit of information? Angel was dead and Spike was out of town. All of the problem people were gone with this. That was a good thing for his boss, right? Right...

"...maybe I should check in, just to be sure," the vampire mumbled to himself as he started dialing City Hall's number on his cell. Reception was a little fuzzy thanks to the dirt over his head, but he had a decent roaming plan. He soon was greeted by a pleasant, if not a little annoyed, voice on the other end of the line.

"S-Sir! The Slayer's leaving town! I think she's going to the bus station." There was a slight pause on the other end of the line before new orders were given. The poor Vampire's yellow eyes widened as he sputtered back, "S-she'll kill me!"

Too bad for him the line had already went dead.

When Buffy reached Sunnydale High, she lingered at the edge of the gateway. Seeing Willow up and about brought a tiny smile to her face; she was really worried about the poor wiccan. Willow tended to really take things personally and Buffy didn't want the girl getting all jittery about things. She had Xander and Oz around so it wouldn't be too bad. Things would probably work out. Hey, at least without the Slayer around they wouldn't be in so much danger. That was always a good thing.

_'Okay, getting a bit too emotional.' _Buffy had to wipe her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt once again. It would probably be best to head on out before she really got into a rut.

"Psst!"

Buffy blinked at the sudden noise. It was coming from...behind her? She turned around but didn't see anything. Was she going all Crazy Buffy now, hearing things whispering in her subconscious?

"Psst, Slayer, over here!"

Okay, now that was definitely not in her head. The blond looked around again and, when hearing more hissing sounds, looked down into a sewer grate only to find two yellow eyes staring back at her. "Come on! I might be skipping town, but can you at least wait until I'm on the bus? I have a reputation!" Crazy Buffy had left the building and handed the keys off to her lesser-known cousin, Huffy Buffy.

The vampire blinked as the Slayer started to stomp her foot like a child. Was this really the big scary thing that lurked in the night? If the Boss said she was...well, there weren't really any options in the matter.

"Slayer! My Boss wants to see you!" The way the vamp was trying to whisper and shout at the same time was almost comical. The sun was limiting his ways of communication, though.

The unorthodox greeting from the ghoul was enough to get Buffy's attention. They weren't even trying to think up a good bait story for the traps these days? Buffy sighed and wondered where all the banter-y magic had gone from the underworld. "You're going to have to do better than that," the Slayer flatly stated. She was really in no mood for this, but...then again a good slay always made her feel better..."Alright, alright," Buffy finally caved. Not like she had anything to lose; not anymore. The Slayer slumped back against the stone gateway to Sunnydale High and sighed. That was the kind of thinking she didn't want to give herself over to.

_'They deserve to be safe,'_ a little voice whispered. Buffy imagined it was her conscience but that part of her head had burnt-up all its favors when it had told Buffy to jam a sword through her boyfriend's stomach. Her feet were already following the vampire, though. Buffy just gave her conscience a rain check on that beating.

It was awkward following someone traveling underground. The vampire who had garnered Buffy's attention was still in the sewers, though he did pause at every grate to make sure the Slayer was still with him.

And, of course, Buffy was starting to notice how nice the storefronts were getting as they traveled. Could this "Boss" be some rich demon holed up in one of Sunnydale's few office buildings? Maybe it was some evil demon who owned all of the trendy shops in Sunnydale and wanted a new Slayer-themed line of clothes?

Okay, that was just wishful thinking. Thinking of some glitzed-out vamp in a pink suit and a feather hat was pretty funny, though.

"We're here."

The harsh rasp snapped Buffy out of the first stirrings of happiness she'd had in hours. "Here? Are you kidding me?" the Slayer asked, clearly not amused.

Looming above her, the stone face of City Hall looked as chipper and happy as any small-town political center. The trees still had leaves on their branches, there was no dark lighting, and certainly no fabulous vampires. No, there were only a few confused clerks out on a smoking break who were watching a more confused blond girl watch them. Buffy looked towards the nearby sewer grate for her undead guide but found the vamp to be missing.

_'Great, my last great hurrah in Sunnydale is a wild goose chase.'_ That vamp better hope he never shows his pasty face in Los Angeles.

"Do you need some help?" Now one of the clerks had put out his cigarette and was walking over. Wonderful.

Buffy waved him off with a sheepish smile. "Uh, no. I was just passing through and I got lost...this isn't the bus station! Silly me!" Babble Buffy was back now.

The man looked at her quizzically before his eyebrows shot up. "Are you Buffy Summers?" His look mirrored Buffy's own surprise at the moment. "Please, come on in. The Mayor is in a meeting, but he'll be out soon."

"The...Mayor?" Buffy was openly shocked as the clerk ushered her inside the building. The place was fairly laid back with only a few secretaries running around with folders of copied material.

Didn't look like a den of evil so far, although Buffy was too off her game to really scrutinize the place.

Why would a vampire call the Mayor of Sunnydale his boss? More importantly, how did the Mayor even know who Buffy was? Public servants weren't supposed to be dealing with demons! At least, not during an election year. There just had to be some kind of mistake and Buffy was going to get to the bottom of it one way or another.

So, now, Buffy was sitting in a very comfy chair outside of the Mayor's office and twiddling her thumbs. There were a few magazines to read but all of them were Martha Stuart Living. Someone around here must have had a thing for being a housewife. In itself, that was scary enough. That this might be a den of vampires waiting to ambush her it was downright insane.

Buffy sighed and shook her head. She hadn't felt a single vampire since she entered the building. If it was an ambush they were certainly going to a lot of work to kill her. This kind of setup was more elaborate than anything Angel had cooked up...

...oh, there was his name again. The emotional turmoil bubbled right back up to the surface and anything else slipped away and it reminded the Slayer of how much she had wanted to run from Sunnydale. Just...run to the nearest bus and flee from this crazy existence. From being the Slayer, from her friends, her family, and any feelings that could haunt her here.

So, what was she doing in City Hall?

The oak door to the Mayor's office creaked open as if to answer the girl. A few men in overpriced suits filed out, talking in hushed voices. Probably discussing a tax hike or something. Maybe she could just slip out behind them...

"Come right on in and make yourself at home!"

...or not.

The sudden cheerful voice caught the macabre Slayer completely by surprise and she turned on her heels. Buffy had only seen Mayor Wilkins a few times on tv, boring public channels, but she was versed enough to know that the man sitting behind that desk in there was none other than the Mayor himself. Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat and meekly pointed to herself.

The smiling man just nodded and enthusiastically motioned for Buffy to join him. There was a snively-looking aide standing by the door who quickly shut the door behind him when he left. The guy looked like he had taken twenty too many pep pills.

"Just have a seat, Miss Summers," Mayor Wilkins called out. He had rose from his chair and was now cleaning his hand with what looked to be one of those germ-killing travel towels. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said as he stretched out his now-clean hand.

Buffy, more befuddled than wary, slowly reached up to shake the man's hand. "Uh, the pleasure is all mine?" That sounded like something to say to a mayor.

Wilkins chuckled a bit before taking his seat and leaned over the table. Buffy squirmed a bit under the placid look directed at her until she couldn't take it any longer. "H-How do you know me?" The Slayer then realized how that sounded and instantly sat up straight as a board, waiting for some kind of secret service to fall on her.

The men in black never showed, however. Mayor Wilkins shook his head, amused, before sliding a manila envelope over his desk. "There's not much that goes on here without me knowing, Miss Summers," he replied, motioning to the envelope.

Now more wary than ever, Buffy slowly pulled the package and gasped. Inside were large, clear photos of her in various poses of slayage. There were a few pictures from the Scoobies at the library, a few of her patrolling, and even one of her and Angel walking leisurely down main street Sunnydale hand in hand.

"Where did you get these?" Buffy quietly asked. "And what do you want?" she added after a moment.

Mayor Wilkins actually looked offended and for the first time his smile slipped from his face. "What do I want? What a defensive attitude you have, young lady. I just wanted to give you a little thanks for looking out for my little corner of California before you left."

"Cut the crap," Buffy was in full Slayer-mode at the moment, government agents be damned. Seeing candid pictures of her an Angel didn't help much either. "You had one of your boys follow me. Is that a new affirmative action program that was on the ballet? Vampires on the payroll? Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'blood money'."

With a sigh, the Mayor leaned back in his leather chair and rested his folded hands on his chin in quiet study of the girl sitting before him. "That would be my other reason for asking you here. You see, this town is a bit..." he looked to Buffy for a suitable word but only got a glare, "...odd. How exactly do you think things like the local high school getting invaded by a group of vampires or a hell demon taking a stroll through the mall don't get more attention?" Unlike Buffy, the Mayor was calm and nonchalant about the topic. "Gangs on PCP, a gas leak that causes hallucinations, the former principle being attacked by rare flesh-eating beetles...you name it, we've probably used it as an excuse."

The picture was starting to get more and more clear to the blond girl. "You're...the guy who runs blocker for me...?" Buffy guessed, "Then why are you working with vampires?! That's counter-productive!"

"I could ask you the same thing," Wilkins stated, pointing to the photo of Buffy with Angel. "It seems that there are many shades of gray in the world, Miss Summers, and you've been trying to walk the line."

Buffy tried to come up with some kind of rebuttal, but only found herself huff and poke out her lip. "Angel was different," she mumbled.

Without a word, Mayor Wilkins reached over his desk to pat the Slayer on her hand. "I heard about what happened. Losing someone that close to you can be a pretty hard thing, but you saved the rest of us." He leaned over so he could catch Buffy's eyes even though her head was bent. His warm smile was enough to make Buffy look back up and at least try to look happy. "I lied to you when I said I called you in here to thank you. I want to do that, but I also want to stop you from making a mistake."

"I want to keep you in Sunnydale." The Mayor had shifted into his own little zone, the Politician Zone, and was now treating the meeting like he was trying to stave off a civil servant strike. "What's it going to take?"

'That's...weird,' Buffy thought. She studied the man's face to any tells of what he was thinking but to no avail. The guy was a rock. "Why do you want me to stay?" Best to be wary when strange men were asking you to stick around, mayor or not.

Obviously Wilkins thought his reasons were obvious as he stared back at Buffy with wide eyes. "Because you're special! You keep Sunnydale safe from anything not on the city's payroll. We'd all be cattle for that Master person or wiped out of the map by the Judge. That, and I don't like the thought of a young lady wandering around by herself. It's not safe."

Buffy had to laugh at that. One minute the Mayor was talking about how she stopped two separate apocalypses, one death, and heavy artillery, the next he was worried about common muggers. To be frank, Buffy was stunned. "I...I...don't really know what to say."

The blond had been planning to get on the first bus out of Sunnydale and never look back. No home, no boyfriend, no schooling, no future. "I really don't think I can stay even if I want to," she admitted. "My mom found out about the Slayer thing and...kicked me out of the house. I also kinda got expelled and the police are looking for me."

"Kicked you out?" the Mayor parroted. "No, no, no, we can't have that!" The man snapped up his phone with a small frown. "Get me Bob Munroe's office...Bob, what's this about wanting Buffy Summers?...No, you can just cancel that APB, Miss Summer's is completely clear of any suspicion. I can -personally- vouch for her...yeah, thanks Bob. I'll see you at the barbecue." With a happy laugh, the cheerful mayor hanged up the phone and turned to his guest.

"And that, as the kids say, is that. I'll talk to Snyder next."

Buffy stared at her host with an open mouth before hopping up out of her chair. "That's it? Just like that?" she gasped. This was...this was...she plopped back into her chair. "You really fixed it that quick?"

Mayor Wilkins smiled happily at the girl. "Just like that. It's the least I can do to repay you for everything you've done." He too retook his seat. "Now, what's this about you getting kicked out?"

"That's a long story," Buffy sighed. She looked up, expecting to find the Mayor not paying attention to her, but was surprised to find him giving her his full attention. "Ah...you see...my mom told me not to come back if I left to go...save the world." She was not going to start crying again, she wasn't!

A box of tissue was pushed over towards her and the Slayer gratefully took a few pieces to dab her eyes. "It's just really hard, you know?" Her breathing hitched and she finally started to sob. The Mayor was already by her side and held her as she got over the worst of it.

In all honesty, Wilkins hadn't expected Buffy Summers to be like this. She was so...human. More human than he was, really, even if she was a Slayer. "How about we make a little deal?" he asked when Buffy had calmed down. He could possibly regret this later, but maybe, just maybe, it would work out. "I hire you as a city employee and find you a place to live on the payroll."

Buffy looked up at him with a little sniffle and wiped her eyes again. "Y-You can do that? I don't have to leave my friends?"

"No, Miss Summers, you don't have to leave," he replied. "We'll just have to keep your employment to ourselves, though. Labor laws and all that. You can keep doing your 'sacred duty', go back to school, and anything else." Everything could come later...much later. He reached out his hand to seal the deal.

_'If I do this...I have a feeling everything will change.'_ There was something tingling at the back of Buffy's mind, just at the edge of her waking mind. It was her Slayer senses, Buffy realized. Her hand hesitated before it grasped the Mayor's and shook it firmly. _'The Slayer is just going to have to deal. Time to take back my life.'_

Yes, things were definitely looking like they were going to change in Sunnydale...


	2. Capoeira Without a Partner

_**Chapter Two: Capoeira Without a Partner**_

"So, the deposit is already paid for and the view is great! It might even be better than my place."

Buffy had to agree, this apartment was nice. Too nice. "I...we...I can't let you get me this place!" As much as it pained her to let this place go, she had to put her foot down. "I haven't even been slaying and you're getting me this place?"

It had been two days since Buffy and the Mayor had come to terms. True to his word, Mayor Wilkins had gotten her reinstated in school, made her legal problems disappear, and wanted to get her this -very- nice condo. Not that Buffy had actually been back to school yet, mind you. No, big bad Slayer girl had been holed-up in the guest room at City Hall, which was more like a utility closet, hiding from the world.

Eventually, after many hours of trying to talk her out himself, the Mayor had to send in some of his bigger vamp "helpers" to drag Buffy out of the room. Buffy was actually pretty proud of herself for not dusting them out of habit. Reluctantly, she had only beat them senseless and admitted that she was being silly and promised to not be so pouty. Thus, how the blond currently found herself here in this fabulous apartment.

"Nonsense, it's perfect. The cometary is only a few blocks down the street, it's on your school's bus rout, and did I mention the view?" Wilkins made a broad motion to the giant bay window that was the highlight of the loft. "If you don't take it I just might!" he laughed.

Buffy tittered on her feet which was a sure sign serious Buffy was battling her inner valley girl. It was just one of many Buffy-isms the Mayor had picked up on over the last few days. "It's really not as much as you think it is. Lots of spooky things happen here and this place can't seem to keep tenants. The price is to die for." Finally he got a nod and he clapped his hands happily.

"Excellent!" The Mayor reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope. "And here is a little pay advance to get you settled."

Inside was a small plastic card and a set of keys. Buffy's eyes went wide at the credit card and she looked back up at the Mayor. He was already putting up his hands to forestall her objections. "Now, this is a non-argument. I've seen your bags, you have nothing! A teenage girl is supposed to have closets of clothes, right? You also need furniture and other things. I expect good work for this, though," he warned, "and good grades. Sick days can only get you so many excuses, you know."

Properly reprimanded, Buffy spent all of two seconds looking chastised before running around her new apartment. It was just so big! So much bigger than her room was. If her mom saw it...right, she wouldn't care anymore. That put a dampener on her enthusiasm but it didn't break the teen. No, two days of sobbing her eyes out in a closet she had exiled herself two was good enough.

"Glad you like it," Wilkins laughed. "So, I take it that you'll be going shopping for some furniture after school?"

That succeeded in dropping a cold bucket of reality on Buffy. "School? Now?" She turned around and looked at her watch, it was close to noon. "Classes are almost over...can't I just have one more sick day? It's almost summer!"

Wilkins shook his head and motioned to the door. "Come on, we'll lock the place up and you can come back later. You can catch your afternoon classes and get your finals retake schedule. It's already taken care of."

"Oh...yay. Finals that I didn't have time to study for." Alright, school wouldn't be that bad. Her friends were there, weren't they? It would be nice to see them again. And Giles! Giles would be there. He would be a rock in the storm. A tweed-covered rock, even.

Didn't make her any more confident. Unfortunately, all that inner monolog had distracted Buffy from making any sort of escape and now she was riding down main street in a limo.

Beside her, the Mayor was talking happily on a car phone. When he hung up, he chuckled to himself. "You know, fyarl demons and cell phones do not mix," Wilkins stated, "They end up getting all enthusiastic and then crushing it. Happens every time." He noticed that he was laughing by himself, not that he really cared, but his charge was looking a little depressed. "What? Not even a smile? Are you imagining it? A fyarl demon talking on a cell phone? That's funny!"

Buffy nearly jumped when the Mayor put a hand on her shoulder. "What?! Oh...yeah, fyarl demon." Had she ever seen one of those? Giles would probably know all about them or something. "You have other demons working for you?" the blond asked as she glanced at her new employer.

"They have to have some form of income," Wilkins responded. "If they aren't busy, demons are just like humans." Buffy recognized the tone and felt a lecture coming on. Unlike a boring book lecture, though, this sounded fairly interesting. The Mayor continued, heedless of the way Buffy was imagining him in a tweed suit, "If a demon has work, they won't be prowling the streets or acting anti-social."

"So you have a...demon work program? You're like the Herbert Hoover of the underworld, Boss." This time, Buffy did laugh. She could just imagine all the vamps lining up for a blood line and paving the streets of Sunnydale at night.

Wilkins chuckled along with the blond and shook his head. The things the kids came up with these days. "Wait, did you call me Boss? You don't have to. Mayor Wilkins is practically my unofficial nickname these days."

Had she called him Boss? Buffy didn't even notice. "Well, it's true isn't it? I'm an employee just like the rest of the vamps and demons. Just, you know, not evil or insane." It was a little grating being on the same level as a vampire, though. Buffy figured it was her Slayer part rattling the ole' saber. "I don't plan on being there long, don't get me wrong. I have more work ethic than a hundred year-old vampire." At least Buffy imagined she did. This was technically her first job.

"Of that, I have no doubt. Here's my cell phone number if you need to reach me." Buffy gave him a look at that which he didn't return. "Have a good day, alright?"

The limo pulled up to Sunnydale High's main round-through and idled as Buffy piled out. The few students who were outside for whatever reason stared as the creepiest girl in school waved goodbye to whoever was inside and strolled inside. Well, more like slinked. She slinked inside. It was still a proud slink.

Luckily for her, classes were in session. Buffy got to the school office easy enough and was displeased to find that she had to come back in tomorrow, the weekend, to take her tests. Snyder wasn't around to get on her case and for that Buffy was thankful. He was bound to be all angry because someone went over his head for once.

_'I don't have to make my next class...'_ Buffy thought. What was one more class? Giles...could probably probably use the company anyway. _'I could use the company.'_

Predictably, Buffy found Giles doing what he always did when he was barely hanging on to his sanity; recataloging everything in the library. Judging by how many books were strewn about Giles was majorly wigging. Not that Buffy could blame him, not in the least. Miss Calender had...god, how had Buffy possibly forgotten anything that had happened, even for a moment? She felt so disgusted at herself.

"...Giles?"

The Englishman paused mid-reach and the tome that was in his hand fell to the floor. "Buffy?" The small girl was wrapped up in a hug before she knew what was going on. She tentatively returned it before sniffling a bit and having to stop to grab a tissue.

Allowing his Slayer to compose herself, Giles just stumbled back until he hit the table and sat down. "How, you...where have you been? We've all been worried sick."

That was not an easy question. Although he hadn't said anything, Buffy was sure the Mayor didn't want his dealings to be public knowledge. "I've been staying with a friend." It wasn't a complete lie. "I'm sorry I didn't call or anything, it's just been-"

"-difficult. I know." Giles smiled sadly at the girl and took a deep breath. "Are you alright, Buffy? I mean, well, you know what I mean."

Buffy nodded, unable to do much more than that at the moment. "What does it matter?" she responded, avoiding the question, "Angel is gone and I'm back. The world can start spinning again."

The librarian didn't let her off so easy, though. "Now, many people have been worried about you! With everything that has happened, we were afraid-"

"Giles, have you heard anything from...Buffy!" Willow, Xander, Oz, and Cordelia chose that moment to walk the library. Or, in Willow's case, hobble. The foremost two stopped upon seeing Buffy.

Cordelia, however, was far less timid. "See, Xander? There she is. Now will you stop moping so much?" She casually brushed past the sheepish Slayer and pulled out some homework. For as oblivious as she seemed, Cordelia knew that no one was going to be going anywhere for awhile.

Buffy braced herself for yelling or possibly violence, but the only thing that happened were four arms wrapping around her. Willow was nearly in tears while Xander didn't feel like he was letting go anytime soon. "Guys! Buffy has to breath!" the blond squawked. That, and Xander's cast was starting to poke. Reluctantly the girl was released.

"Where were you?!" "Are you alright?" "What have you been doing?"

The girl raised her hands to silence her friends and took another deep breath. She had been expecting something like this but the barrage of questions was nuts. "Guys, guys, it's only been two days. Take a step back." Once they were a safe distance away Buffy sat down beside Giles and motioned for them to continue.

Willow was the first one to get a word in. "Are you alright, Buffy? We were worried." She shot a look at Xander that implied she was not happy with his choice of questions. He didn't look chastised.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's been...rough...but I got through it," Buffy replied. Two days spent sobbing in a broom closet? Rough wasn't the right word. "And, in regards to Xander, I was with a friend."

"A friend? We're friends! You couldn't call?" Xander asked. He was looking miffed.

Good for Buffy, she wasn't caring at the moment and ignored him. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't get in touch but...but...I'm not your business! I'm back, Armageddon has been all unarmed and is now just a regular safe geddon, and Angel is...dust. Drop it."

Unfortunately, Xander was never one to get the hint. "Drop it? You leave for two days, make everyone go nuts and expect us to just welcome you back?"

"Jesus, Xander! You're not my mother!" Buffy shouted as she jumped up from the table. She was clenching her fist and Willow interceded before her friend literally lost his head.

The young witch hobbled as best she could over to Buffy and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Sorry, Buffy. We're all just glad to have you back. Did you not get the hug? Hugs are good! Hugs are happy, non-violent!" Buffy calmed back down and smiled at the familiar Willow-babble.

"Xander does bring up a point, though," Giles, ever Mr. Serious, brought everyone back down to earth. "Have you, um, contacted Joyce? She was very worried."

Buffy huffed and plopped back down beside her watcher. "My mom kicked me out, what would she care?"

"I'll take that as a no," Giles mumbled. "Forgive me if this seems out of place, but are you...um...still a..."

"On the lamb? No, Giles, that's all been taken care of. No more threats of a bad wardrobe being held over my head." A happy smile eased onto Buffy's face as she thought about how fast that had been taken care of. "And I'm back in school. I'm all finals girl tomorrow."

On cue, the library doors leapt open and in stalked none other than Principle Snyder. The little troll did not look very happy. In fact... "You look like someone killed your favorite pet rat, Mr. Snyder," Buffy laughed.

The varying degrees of shock and horror ranged from quiet warning to full-on stuttering. Snyder didn't have eyes for any of them, though, and instead stalked right up to the smug Slayer with something akin to pure distiled hate in his stance.

"Summers," he growled, "I don't know what strings you pulled, I don't know who you fooled into buying your act, but...but..." the man was so angry he was literally shaking. "You **can't** do this to me."

Buffy's smile turned downright vicious as she gingerly hopped up and circled the sad little man. "But I did, didn't I? Right over your tiny, bald little head." The Slayer even patted it a few times before Snyder shoved her hand away. Buffy actually chuckled a bit and put her arm around the principle's shoulders and leaned in. "If you have a problem with it, you can always call our mutual...friend and bring up your concerns. I have the number to his private cell number, want me to dial for you?"

Unfortunately, Snyder didn't spontaneously combust. For a second, though, it looked like he was about to. "This isn't over, Summers. One day...one day the people will wake up and see you for the troublemaker you are."

"Yeah, until you do that could you leave? I have things to take care of. Bigger things than you need to be involved with." Snyder shook one last time before giving a glare at everyone present and stormed out of the library.

Before he left, though, Buffy called out to him, "You know, Principle Snyder, this is a special moment." The man turned on his heels and practically dared Buffy to continue. That just sealed the deal. "You finally realize that you can't touch me anymore. You can't do anything to me. These are the moments you want to savor. You just wish time would stop so you can just live them over and over again. You know all about those, right?"

The sheer power Buffy now found herself with was nothing less than intoxicating. Not that she'd ever been drunk, but it had to feel something like this. Heedless of the looks her friends were giving her, Buffy practically hopped up and down with happiness. Her heart was pumping faster than ever before and her eyes were wide and chipper.

"Okay...did I miss something here?" Cordelia asked, breaking the Scooby's silence and Buffy's victory dance. "When did you become Miss Bossy? And...how did you do that to Snyder? Can you teach me to do that to Xander?"

Buffy was only half-listening. She had never had real influence before, no real power. Either Giles was telling her what to do or her mother, or even her "one girl in all the world" kick. This wasn't the Slayer; this was Buffy Anne Summers.

"Hey, where did Xander go?"

That brought Buffy back to reality for a moment and she looked around for him. Finally, she saw him skulk back into the library.

"Got some water," he stated once everyone's gaze was on him.

Giles pulled off his glasses and started to clean them with a smile on his face. What just happened with Snyder didn't make any sense, but he was happy someone had finally put that sad little worm in his place. "Yes, well, it seems that your new friend has his uses." When he saw Buffy tense, the watcher put his hand on her shoulder and lightly squeezed. "Don't worry, I'm not, um, going to ask you about it. I'm guessing you can't say anything?"

"Sorry," Buffy whispered. "All I can say is...actually, I don't think I can say anything." There was that odd silence again. "Willow! Can you help me study for the finals? I'm gonna skip classes today so I can study, could you point out some books?"

The quiet girl nodded happily. "Sure thing, Buffy. You can come over to my house after school and we'll hit the books." She was happy that the awkwardness was gone for the moment. Too bad the bell rang, calling them all back to their classes. "You'll be here, right?" Willow asked Buffy as she and Oz started to exit.

Buffy smiled at her friend's badly-disguised anxiety. "Yes, Will. No more fleeing Buffy, only study Buffy." She turned to say goodbye to Xander, but found him already gone. Whatever, she couldn't deal with his being a brat anyway.

When the library was cleared, Giles went back to putting away his books. Conversation was light for the most part with a few words about their respective health post-fight. Buffy was happy that Giles had psychical recovered from his stay with Angel but the mental scars would probably be there for awhile. His would probably heal before hers did, though.

Another interesting thing to her was that Acathla was now serving a cigar Indian role at the Sunnydale museum. Without Angel around, he's practically harmless Giles reasoned.

Buffy made a note to smash up that demon at the first viable opportunity.

"So, are you going patrolling tonight after you study with Willow?" Giles casually asked. Buffy could tell it was a trick question when she made a non-committal answer and her watcher turned completely around to give her a lecture stare. "Buffy, I only ask because whoever you are staying with, not that I'm asking who that is, might discover your identity. Strange things seem to...gravitate towards you."

"I don't think he'll mind, Giles," Buffy giggled. "Besides, I'm not actually living with him, I've got my own place." She nearly cursed when the words left her mouth. _'Way to not draw attention to myself,'_ Buffy thought with a sigh.

Giles was about to comment on his charge's slip of the tongue when, for the second time, the swinging doors of the library charged open. "Oh for goodness sake, don't you children know how not to slam...the...door. Hello, Joyce."

The blond's head snapped up so fast a normal girl would get whiplash. She was already enveloped in a hug, though. "Mom! Mom, I can't breath!" Actually, she could but Buffy wasn't in the mood for more hugging.

"Buffy, I was worried sick!" Joyce didn't let go but she did ease up a bit. Soon she leaned back so only her hands were on her shoulders. "Where have you been, young lady?"

Now Buffy fully shrugged off the woman's hands and sat back. "Out saving the world, Mom. What I do nearly every night." She didn't want to be rude, but getting kicked out of her own house wasn't helping things.

Joyce, however, frowned. "Buffy, you have no idea how I went through, waiting for you to come home. Wondering if you were dead in a ditch or kidnapped. You...you don't get it!" Her voice was raised now and she was glaring. "You were kicked out of school, the police are still looking for you...what am I supposed to think?"

"Actually, I've been cleared of all charges," Buffy shot back. She rose from her chair and stubbornly stared at the bookshelves in the back. "And, I'm back in school. I have makeup finals tomorrow. Anything else?"

The tension in the room was nearly palatable to Giles who had seemingly been forgotten. He meekly stood off to the side, watching the confrontation unfold. Buffy was such a child in some ways, she just couldn't see the big picture. At the moment, though, she didn't look like she cared. Granted, he couldn't see her face but the way she was standing gave away her feelings. Tense, like a coiled spring. She was only like this when she was gearing up for a fight.

He was about to interrupt but Joyce exploded before he could. "Yes, there is something else! You just, just leave like a thief in the night and expect us all to just shut up and accept it? I didn't raise you like that, young lady."

"You also kick me out when I need you most!" Buffy spun around in tears. "I had to kill Angel, do you get that?! I had to stab him through the heart and watch as he was sucked into hell!" Joyce had recoiled but her daughter wasn't done yet. "You don't care, though, you never did. Always thinking everything was my fault, that I was violent or a delinquent! You know why I got kicked out of my old school, mom? The gym was infested with vampires that were going to kill everyone! Even the people who kicked me out. All those nights you thought I was sneaking out? Saving lives, going on patrols, or stopping psychopaths. You have no idea, do you? No. Fucking. Idea."

Stunned, Joyce's legs buckled as she tried to fight off the hot flash that had just overtaken her. "That's...you never told me..." she whispered. "Buffy..." she reached out to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, but her daughter moved out of distance.

"Don't. Just don't." The Slayer looked scared, but resolute. "No one knows, no one can. They can just ask me if I'm alright and listen, but they can't understand. No one has to make the kinds of decisions I do every day."

"That's not true, we all care about you! Your friends were with me every day looking for you and Rupert was tracking down leads. We care about you so much, don't you see that? You should have heard Xander on the phone when he called me, he was-"

Buffy's eyes grew cold as she walked over to the book cage and leaned up against it for support. "Xander, of course he called you," she hissed. "All anyone cares about is that I'm not being 'their Buffy'. I'm not stupid, mom! I know you want someone more behaved as a daughter, I know Giles wants someone smarter as the Slayer, I know Willow wants a more understanding best friend, and I know Xander just wants someone to sleep with him. Guess what, though; I'm not going to change. I can't just give up my destiny and I can't change who I am. I have a life now for the first time in a long time. There's someone out there who appreciates the work I do, who doesn't understand but still thanks me for just being the Slayer."

The Mayor cared, of that much Buffy was certain. He was honestly thankful for everything she did. Other motives might be involved, but anything was better than this. Buffy would deal with them once the dust settled.

Joyce let out a ragged breath and stepped back until she was clear on the other side of the room, resting on the checkout counter. "Who is it? Who put all of these thoughts into your head?" she asked. "You've never acted like this, Buffy."

"Were you even listening to me?!" Buffy shouted, "No one is putting anything into my head! That's what all of you have been trying to do! For once, I'm thinking for myself. I'm being selfish. After dying once, killing the only person I've ever loved, and saving the world from being sucked into another dimension I think I deserve it." Finally, Buffy admitted it. She was doing this for no one else but herself. The world, her friends, her parents, everything be damned. She finally admitted it.

It wasn't a bad feeling.

The elder Summers, however, didn't see things that way. "Buffy, you will come home with me right now," she ordered. "This...everything can be sorted out. We'll go home, we'll talk. We can sort all this out and-"

"I'm not going home." It was a whisper, as if Buffy was saying it to herself for the first time. Louder, she repeated, "Mom, I'm not going home."

Slack-jawed and sputtering, Joyce took a few moments to try and compose herself but failed miserably. "You've only been gone a few days, you...you have to come back eventually." Even she could see that her daughter wasn't going to come around right now. There was so much she had to think about, so many things no one had told her.

Ignoring the way Buffy was poignantly ignoring her, Joyce sniffed one final time and tried to compose herself. Turning to Giles, she said, "Take care of her, alright?" She heard the snort from her daughter but didn't rise to it. Seeing his nod, she calmly left the room to its usual silence.

"I don't suppose I have to tell you that you were very rash," Giles commented. "You disappear for two days after nearly dying and you get angry with your mother for worrying." He saw Buffy shift a bit so she wasn't facing him and sighed. "Not only that, you have no experience living by yourself, or, or, paying bills. Do you even have a job?" Giles was in full disapproving lecture mode now. "No, you're just going to run out into the world with your new sense of independence without a care to the people who care about you. Is that being an adult? And here you are, not listening."

Giles moved around so he could see Buffy's face, ready to start driving the point even further but paused. He pulled the crying girl into a soft hug as she quietly sobbed into his jacket. "I'm sorry, Buffy."

The blond shook her and only cried harder before getting some words out. "She doesn't understand, no one does. What am I going to do now? I'm completely alone."

And, for once, Giles was devoid of advice.


	3. Mark Her Well

**Chapter 3: Mark Her Well**

School was just letting out when Buffy decided to slink out of the library. After having a long introspective with Giles, ice cream and all, the slayer had said her goodbyes and left before anymore unwanted visitors could drop by. Thanks to her superior hearing, Buffy was able to avoid her friends as they made their way outside. If she ran into Xander right now...well, the blond didn't even want to think about what she'd do to him.

Fortunately for the hapless teen, he had decided to stick with Willow as she rolled out of her classes. Therefore, Buffy was one of the first people out of the school. She had dropped by her locker on the way out and grabbed all the books she'd need for tomorrow's exams. Now, standing at the curb just outside of the building, Buffy was wondering if she would have to walk home. Thankfully that question was soon answered.

"Miss Summers?" The sudden voice surprised Buffy enough that the teenager nearly jumped. Behind her, a rather feral looking man in a suit and dark glasses was staring back. "Your car is this way, Miss Summers." The agent(?) motioned to a black sedan idling on the curb across the way.

What limited senses Buffy did have ringed in her head that this man wasn't human. The slayer inside of the girl was screaming that this thing should be dead, but it was obvious the demon was on the clock. "My car? Since when do I have a car?" Hell, Buffy didn't even have a learners permit yet.

"The Mayor is waiting for you at City Hall. You're due for a meeting at seven o'clock."

"Then why pick me up now? We have a few hours and I need to study for exams tomorrow!"

The demon grunted. "I was told to take you around to buy furnishings for your apartment."

Buffy sported a distinctive grin when she heard the demon's reluctance. "So, you're like, my _chófer_ for the day?" This more than made up for the reunion from hell with her mother. Before the poor ghoul could answer, his "boss" was already over at the car. Maybe this was punishment for having muddy shoes that one time, or tipping over the Mayor's favorite coffee mug? Whatever it was, it wouldn't happen again.

Sunnydale itself had more furniture outlets than one would imagine. Buffy surmised that it might be because a lot of the houses were in a constant flux of ownership. In a town that had more murders per-capita than any other on the east coast, it certainly was a valid idea. As sad and morbid as it may sound, this was good for Buffy as it was a buyers market. Store after store fell to the slayer's appetite for burning credit. Absolutely nothing was spared; couches, a bed, sheets, curtains, electronics (including a Nintendo 64), and just about anything else a loft that housed a teenager could possibly need.

The sun was already starting to slip when Buffy and her designated bag-carrier stumbled out of the last clothing shop in town. Bags were hanging off of the poor demon's arms as he tried to keep up with his hyperactive charge. "It is getting late, we should be making our way to City Hall now." It was nearly an hour early, but he was eager to end this little venture.

"It is? I guess we can get over there early." Buffy wasn't ready just yet to get to work, but, amazingly, there was really nothing left to buy. Most of her stuff would be delivered over the weekend so all she had now was time. "Alright, let's go."

Thankfully for the demon, City Hall wasn't too far away. For sure he was going to reevaluate his life to see just what he had done to deserve the hell he had been put through today.

The ride over was spent with idle chatting on Buffy's part. She learned that the demon used to work out of Cleavland before coming to Sunnydale to try and find a new clan to join. It was a bit of an eye-opener to the slayer to hear what things were like on the other side of the fence. Going to where the work was or where there were more opportunities. No excuse for being part of a doomsday cult, of course, but to some extent Buffy could sympathize. Not much, though.

"Miss Summers, please continue up to the office. The Mayor is having a meeting and tells me your presence would be appreciated."

Okay, that didn't sound good. Buffy didn't quite run up the stairs, but she did jog. The slayer personality was in full swing as she burst through the door to the Mayor's office and, upon not seeing him there, she ran to the adjacent room. What awaited her on the other side was absolutely shocking.

Whatever one would expect from an adjacent room to the Mayor's office was not what they would find. The room was large and obviously took up most of the second floor of the building. At least sixty by fifty feet, it was pure brick and concrete without any dressings. The windows were high on the walls and only provided scant light. The glow in the middle were from odd runes painted onto the floor with a small candle in the middle. There, with the candle, was the suited Mayor Wilkins sitting cross-legged.

When he heard the door open, the mayor's eyes snapped open. "Buffy! Glad you could join me. Take your shoes off at the door and come on down. Watch the paint, though."

Doing just that, Buffy joined her boss inside the circle. The air was charged with...something and it made the hairs on Buffy's arm stand on end. "What are you doing in here? A sayonce?" She wasn't very comfortable with this. "I didn't know you were into this stuff."

"Oh, you have to be to have this job. This is just a locating spell." With one more mumbled chant, the man stretched and blew out the candle. When he was standing up, the mayor produced a small roll cleaner and began to get the dust off his pants. "That's just what I wanted to talk to you about. We seem to have lost Mr. Finch. Grab that candle for me."

Buffy followed her boss back to his office, but not before giving the strange room one more look. She watched the mayor open his liquor cabinet and replace the candle inside beside a bottle of...whatever. "What do you mean he's lost? Like, he can't find his way back home?"

Wilkins looked perplexed for a moment until he caught the joke. Laughing a bit, he settled back into his leather chair and motioned for Buffy to take a seat as well. "No, nothing like that." He briefly looked through some documents on his desk before pulling out a letter and sliding it over to the slayer.

The letters were all cut out of magazines and there was no signature. Buffy read the letter aloud, "Wilkins, we are holding your bitch until you kill proposition 144. If you do not hold a press conference to pull your support, we will deliver the head of your deputy the next day." The slayer put the letter back down and shook her head. "What's proposition 144?" she asked.

"A push for a new law forcing bikers to wear helmets. Common sense, you'd think." The mayor sighed long and hard as he leaned back. "I just want to make sure no one dies when they don't have to. Now I've dragged Mr. Finch into this."

"What did the police say?"

"That is where you come in, Miss. Summers. This is the work of a group, not a single individual. Bikers, of course, but their leader is a demon. You see why I can't turn this over to the police."

Demonic...bikers? Now Buffy had heard of everything. "So...you want me to go get Finch?" That would make sense. "No problem. I'll go get him tonight."

The mayor held up his hand, but he was sporting a smile. "Now hold your horses! I can't ask you to go alone." He pressed a little button on the intercom sitting on his desk and asked someone to come inside. A few moments later, two nondescript men stepped inside.

Since they were so close, Buffy instantly recognized what they were. "You can't be serious," she deadpanned. "I don't mind going to get Mr. Finch, Boss, but I draw the line at working with vampires." The two undead didn't look too thrilled at working with a slayer themselves.

"Now, now. If you're going to be working for me you'll have to get along with the rest of the staff." This was the first time Buffy had never seen the mayor look anything but happy and it was a bit unsettling. So unsettling, in fact, that the slayer was really starting to rethink her position on working with the two vamps.

Defeated, Buffy held up her hands. "Okay, okay! We'll go get Finch back. Together." Wasn't the first time Buffy had ever worked with a vampire and it's not like she'd care very much if they got in the way of a stake. "Where are these guys at?"

The Mayor's countenance shifted back to his family-friendly fair the moment Buffy had caved. "The old harbor district. Cliché, isn't it? A dark meeting by moonlight, a shady deal in the shadows. Like an old cops and robbers movie!"

"...Right. Just like that." Buffy was wondering if her boss was bipolar at this point. "Shouldn't we get going? Sun's going down and we should try to catch them while they're sleeping." Wilkins' looked disappointed that he didn't get to wax nostalgic any more, but he had to agree. "Alright, let's go ghoulies."

Although they didn't particularly like their new designation, the two vampires complied and filed out behind the slayer. Outside, an unmarked SUV was just pulling into the parking lot and the two demons piled in with Buffy following.

Of course, no one was saying anything. Even though it was a large vehicle, the three were still bunched up together and no one looked very comfortable. "You two, here's the deal; we get in, we get Finch, we get out after kicking butt." Buffy wasn't sure, but having a general outline couldn't hurt. Her "backup" nodded and tried to look like they didn't want to rip out the blond's throat.

It was a valiant effort and Buffy could appreciate it. Just a little.

"So, what are you guys up to these days?"

Yeah, more dead than a crypt. "You guys really don't like me, huh?"

"You only exist to kill us, what do you think?" one of the vampires mumbled.

Yes, a valid point. "I'm not trying to kill you _now_. Doesn't that count for something?" Buffy thought it should. Her own instincts were telling her to go nuts and start slaying. "If we can't get Finch back, they're going to kill him. He's your boss, isn't he?" Made sense to Buffy. Finch was the Deputy Mayor.

The two vampires started to darkly chuckle. "Finch is nothing compared to the Mayor. He's the only reason we're not ripping you apart right now."

Whatever. If the demons wanted to be like that then Buffy would just ignore them. She had a stake, a cell phone, and short fuse when it came to dead things. As much as the two were posturing, the slayer could tell they would listen to her if she gave any orders. It wasn't due to the vamp's sparkling personality. Instead, the slayer could _feel_ the loyalty of her two underlings. Just something in her mind let Buffy know how the two had more bark than bite.

_'That's just weird.'_ Buffy was used to trusting her gut feelings, but this was beyond her usual experience. It was almost like fighting together with Angel again. During the few times they had been in a fight together they had always synced up a bit in the heat of things. Although, it had always been more Buffy than Angel. She could tell when he was in trouble or being worked hard. Almost linked into her slayer senses. That made no sense, of course. Buffy's own senses had always been much lower than what Giles had described other slayers having.

Before the girl would consider the strange feelings anymore, the SUV lurched to a halt. The driver turned back to the others and informed them they were a few blocks off from the harbor.

"Alight," Buffy began, "We're going to pile out here and walk the rest of the way." The slayer was already out of the door by the time she finished, stake in hand. Her two helpers followed, armed with pipes and chains. The chains were quickly confiscated by Buffy who again reminded them that they were trying to be stealthy. Weren't vampires supposed to be stealthy? Did the Boss toss her the special ed demons?

Fortunately, there weren't many more issues on the way to the harbor district itself. There were a few human guards milling around and drinking. Buffy easily sneaked past them and made sure they didn't end up as snacks for her help. It was disturbing that the bikers were armed, though. Buffy noticed that most of them had hunting rifles and a few had some strange-looking guns that the girl had seen on late night action TV. Although the vampires didn't have to worry about bullets, Buffy was making a point to avoid getting shot at.

There was only one large ship in the harbor and most of the lights were on. That's what Buffy was heading forward. Predictably, there were more guards in this area. Several bikers were huddled around a barrel fire. Seeing an opportunity, Buffy motioned for the vampires to surround the group in the darkness. While they did that, Buffy grabbed some discarded burlap sacks used for packing and draped them over her clothes. Thus garbed, she walked into the fire's light.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" Instantly, several guns were aimed at the slayer. The leather-clad enforcers surrounded the girl and one shoved a pistol up to her head. "Did you fucking hear me? Dirty harbor roach."

This closeness was just what Buffy had wanted. Her firsts lashed out and batted away the gun pointed at her head while a kick knocked away a rifle. The other bikers brought their weapons up to blow away the teen, but they were blindsided by Buffy's two snarling vampires. The bikers the slayer had singled out were soon laying on the wooden decks of the pier. A sharp crack from behind brought Buffy's attention back to the others, though.

"You...you..." The other guards were also laying on the pier, but their necks were twisted in impossible angles. "They're dead! You killed them!" Buffy was standing no more than five feet from two dead bodies, two people whom she was supposed to protect. "Why the hell did you kill them?!"

The vamps looked a bit surprise at the rise in hostility and took a few steps back from the irate slayer. "You wanted us to ambush them." That was the best they could come up with.

Buffy's stake was already embedded into the chest of the talkative vampire and he died his second death with wide eyes. His partner fell back on the deck and tried to scurry away from the slayer.

"We saved your life! You'd be dead if it weren't-" His dying words were cut short by a flying stake which easily cut straight through his chest.

It was madness to kill a person so easily. Buffy shuffled over to the two dead bikers and poked them with her foot. The first one was dead as a hammer, his neck snapped in several places. The second, however, was still alive. His neck was bruised and cracked, but the vampire that got him hadn't finished off the job. Buffy ran up to him and checked him over, but there wasn't anything she could do.

Unfortunately, the situation soon got much worse. The man had enough motor control to wail and he did that as loudly as he could. Unintelligible gurgles and screams into the night made the warehouse in the distance light up like a roman candle. Buffy could hear the distant sounds of motorcycles revving up and worked quickly to hide both the unconscious and the dead. The shouts of other guards were getting closer and the aware biker was still making noise. Buffy pulled the man behind a large stack of cargo containers. Buffy clamped her hand over the man's mouth and tried to control her breathing so no one would linger around too much.

Several moments after Buffy hid, several bikes rolled up to the barrel pyre and heavy books hit the deck. The slayer could hear the clicks of guns being primed for use not twenty feet away. The wounded biker gave a sharp kick and Buffy's hand clamped down even harder. If they discovered her back here she'd be dead. There wasn't anywhere to run on the wide pier.

Tense minutes passed as the area was being given the once-over by the other guards. Buffy could hear them talking to themselves, wondering where the regular patrol was. They found the empty beer bottles and started cursing their comrades before getting back on their bikes and tearing off down the long pier towards the ship in the distance.

Finally, Buffy relaxed her grip and let out a breath. "You almost got me killed, you know that?" The slayer looked down at the biker and her relieved smile slipped. Her hold was lax enough that the guard could start moaning and wailing again, but he wasn't. Buffy shook him a few times and shakily moved her hand down to the man's neck and could feel no pulse.

The limp body flew through the air and landed with a sickening crack as Buffy literally threw the dead biker as far away as possible. The teen's breath was ragged and shaky, her hands trembling. "Oh god, oh god, oh god." The girl kept repeating her little mantra over and over as she stared at the broken body of the person she had just killed. She, a slayer, had just ended the life of another human being. Snuffed a man out with her own hands.

Buffy was running before she even felt herself getting up. Toward the ship, away from the body. Anywhere was better than sitting on that dock at the moment. When her feet finally stopped, the girl slumped down in a heap beside a dock office. Distantly, she heard voices running towards her and the feeling of being pulled to her feet, but these things were only flashes passing her by. When something finally cracked her on the back of the head, Buffy welcomed the darkness.

Light streaming through a window awoke Buffy. She shook her head a few times to get the cobwebs out and willed her eyes to focus.

Given that she could feel herself swaying, Buffy guessed she was now in the large cargo ship and that she had been out for a few hours. Her arms were chained so they knew she was the slayer and all her weapons were gone; Buffy couldn't feel anything in her jacket.

"Are you awake yet, slayer?"

The voice came from a particularly large demon seated atop a container at the far end of the compartment. He was wearing biker leathers and wielding a pistol-grip shotgun which was now slung over his shoulder. "You just had to stick your little nose into my business down here at the docks, didn't you? Killed three of my boys, my riders, you even killed the Night Rider!" Now the demon was getting belligerent. He closed the distance between himself and his prisoner and savagely cracked her across the face with the shotgun. "The Night Rider himself!"

Three? No, Buffy had only killed one. A single human life that she had snuffed out with her own hands.

"No denial? Didn't think so." The demon gave one more kick to Buffy's head and it snapped back and hit the side of the ship. A long stream of blood started from the back of Buffy's head and trickled down her hair until it hit the chains. Still, the slayer didn't respond.

The demon clicked his teeth and stalked out of the room. The thick steel door shut loudly behind him and the room was sealed. The light from the cargo loading door filtered down into the cellar-like area onto Buffy's face. Swollen as it was, she could still open her eyes, but the girl found nothing worth looking at.

She deserved this. This was the logical outcome as her failure as a Slayer: being slain. When she failed in her duty, what else could she hope for? The demon would probably come back in soon and end it. At least she'd be with Angel in hell. Buffy leaned her head back with a small smile. They could be together again.

"A-Are you going to get us out of here now?"

Buffy cracked an eye back open to search for the voice. On the other side of the room, a man in a torn and dirty suit was tied up about like the slayer was. It took Buffy a finite, but eventually she recognized him.

"Finch? Allen Finch?" This was the guy! He was the one whom the Mayor had sent her after. "I...I was supposed to save you, but I can't. I can't do anything."

"Are you hurt? Did they shoot you?" Allen was frantic in his questions. He had been down in this place for too long and the resignation in Buffy's voice was getting to him.

The slayer shook her head. "I killed someone. I-I let them die to save myself. I'm more of a monster than any of these things!" Buffy slammed her head back on the pipe holding her and slumped forward against her chains. Her dirty blond locks cascaded over her shoulders and directed some of the blood away from her face. "I deserve to die." When Allen didn't respond, Buffy figured he agreed. Of course he would, he was probably disgusted.

Finch was speechless, to be certain, but not for the reason the slayer had imagined. "You...you're going to just give up? We're both going to die! I don't want to die, I want to go back home!" The poor civil servant was jerking against the ropes that held him, trying to get some kind of leverage. "Don't you want to live? It's us or them!"

Ha, "us or them" was so horribly cruel. A slayer had to be above that line of thinking. That was one of the first things Giles had taught. To think like that was human. It was...human...so very normal. Buffy's eyes cracked open and she stared at Allen across the room. She could see and smell the blood on him from where he had cut himself on the ropes in his struggles to get free. Such a human way of reacting. So...animalistic and utilitarian. Unchained.

Buffy's arms flexed against the chains holding her and she pushed them up the pipe so she could stand. The idiot demon hadn't hit her anywhere but her face, so her legs and arms were just fine. "Finch, hold still. I'll be over there in a second." The slayer braced her feet on the pipe and pushed until the chains were cutting into her arms. Finally, just when Buffy thought she would have to stop, one of the links snapped.

Running over to Finch, Buffy easily snapped the knot to the ropes holding him. "Do you know a way out of here?" she asked. The winded deputy mayor shook his head and explained he had been blindfolded all the way to the hold.

"Alright, time for plan B."

Loud shrieks reverberated throughout the ship. Blood curdling in their intensity and pitch, they soon drew the attention of several guards and the boss himself. When they burst through the steel bulkhead, Finch was still screaming. Across the room, in the middle of a large pool of blood, was Buffy.

The demon pumped his shotgun and warily walked over to the girl. "She broke the chains, but busted her arms doing it," he said after seeing the large gashes leaking blood on Buffy's arms and shoulder joints. He poked her once with his foot, but she didn't move. "And she passed out from the pain. String her up on the deck as a warn-" He never got to finish.

Buffy lashed out with her foot and swept the unprepared demon when his back was turned to give orders. The other bikers opened fire with their handguns and rifles, but Buffy was using their boss as a shield as she ran behind some wooden containers in the hold. She pried the shotgun from the demon's death grip and checked her ammo. The bikers were closing in and Finch's sissy screaming wasn't doing anything to help. There was plenty of heavy machinery around, though.

A flurry of gunshots followed Buffy as she darted out into the open. She shot twice at the crane control box and hit it with the second. The box sparked and crackled as random lights started to short all over the ship. The large loading crane that was controlled by the box started swinging madly and the slow bikers were fodder. Two were hit right away and another four were taken out by other debris the crane arm hit.

"Buffy! Help!"

Finch was in tears as the remaining biker started to cock the pistol he was holding to the prisoner's head. The slayer was only ten steps away so she took a chance.

A single shot rose above the noise in the room. Buffy's shotgun was level with the biker's head, while his gun was still pointing at Finch. The slayer did have a fresh wound, though.

Staggering out of the burning rubble, the demon who was responsible for all of this cackled as he cocked the hammer on his revolver for another round. His coat was nearly burnt off, along with most of his skin, but he was still kicking.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" the demon rasped. Without turning to his underling, he said, "Take out that sniveling worm. I think Wilkins will get the idea when we give him the heads of the slayer and his deputy." Buffy closed her eyes while Finch started to scream once again. "Game over, Slayer. You lose."

A warm rush of blood hit Buffy's face as she squeezed the trigger. Instantly ducking down, Buffy pumped the shotgun and chambered another round as the demon's own shot went wide. She aimed at the biker's chest and blew a foot-wide hole in it.

"No, not over. It's just the start of a new game."


	4. Tip the Light Fantastic

"**G**-man! Tell me you don't have extra work for us on the very day of summer break! That would be Nuremberg Trial punishment." The entire gang, sans Buffy, was gathered in the library. Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia. They had all been called in by the Watcher for some urgent business on the first official day of summer break. It was almost enough to make Xander cry.

Giles, however, didn't seem to notice or care. Probably the latter. "Because we are going to a party tonight," he stated, much to the surprise of just about everyone. "So, get your best outfits together and, and, whatever it is that young people do in preparation for a...shindig."

It was Willow, brave, valiant Willow, who's broken mind mended itself first. "Giles, that's just sick and wrong." Most everyone just nodded as best they could. Giles and party, not to mention the very word shindig, did not compute. "And-and I thought this was about Buffy? That's what you said when you called."

The librarian slid a flier over the table so everyone could see it. "It's both. She's being honored by the Mayor of Sunnydale and the Police Commissioner for saving the Deputy Mayor last night." Removing his glasses, Giles began to furiously clean them like he always did when things weren't going according to plan. "This was an internal memo for city employees, of course. I'm allowed to bring several guests and you four are them."

"Buffy went and saved someone without telling us?" Oz had seen the news about the recent fire a the old harbor, but hadn't put two and two together before now. He only knew that a government employee had been held hostage there.

"But, we're the support...people. We should have done stuff," Xander argued. He looked less than pleased about being left out of the loop.

That was precisely the point Giles was going to make when he saw Buffy. The girl hadn't given him a contact number or even called last night. Not only that, she was going to be in the media! A Slayer was supposed to work from behind the scenes, not revel in lights and attention. Whatever was going on was decidedly unsettling, but it would all come out tonight.

For better or worse.

**Chapter 4: Tip the Light Fantastic**

**F**or what must have been the hundredth time, Buffy fiddled with the ribbon on her dress. Something just wasn't right with it and she continued to adjust and readjust anything she could get her hands on until the master seamstress put a stop to it.

"Stop fidgeting so much! I can't tell if the dress needs to be altered if you keep moving," the old crone snapped.

Buffy wasn't in a good mood either. "Yeah? You aren't going to be the one wearing this thing in front of the biggest names in town." She had her own formal ware, but the Mayor was insistent on getting something new for the big occasion. Pants would be better for a quick getaway, too.

Yes, for what must have been the first time in her life, Buffy was getting _**positive**_ attention from the adult community and she wanted to do nothing more than crawl under a rock.

Saving Finch had been the catalyst that set-off this entire melodrama. Buffy had brought him to a hospital on her back, herself nearly drained of any energy and bleeding from just about every part of her body. She had passed out the second she had made it into the lobby. Apparently, that was one of the prerequisites to being a bonafide hero. Somehow the story had leaked out, altered, of course, and now there were even reporters who wanted an interview with the brave teen. Sensing an opportunity to truly show how much Sunnydale appreciated its resident Slayer, the Mayor had drummed-up an entire gala event, inviting just about anyone who was in on what exactly Sunnydale was up against after the sun went down. There was even talk of Buffy getting the key to the city.

"Ow!" The tough-as-nails slayer yelped when a stray needle poked into her leg, bringing her back to the present. "Watch what you're doing with those things." Of course, there wasn't much more damage to be done to the girl's body. Her shoulders had to be stitched up, her face was still swollen, she had a very nasty black eye, and she had pulled a ligament in her leg. Those, along with all the other assorted welts and bruises, made for a sorry-looking hero.

Too bad for her that the Mayor was set on this little party. It was also an election year and he had explained that it would be good publicity. A win-win.

"Alright, strip. This will have to be shortened by tonight," the rather rude seamstress snapped. Glaring at her, Buffy complied and slipped out of the sleeveless dress and tossed back on her street clothes. The batty old woman got one look at them and scoffed loudly.

Fortunately for the seamstress, Buffy didn't care about the her opinion. "Send the bill to the Mayor's office and call me on my cell when it's done."

Well, that was one annoying chore out of the way. Makeup tests that morning had pretty much killed Buffy's mood, but the girl supposed she was quite lucky considering she had missed her original test date. Influence was a nice thing to have when it came to things like that.

Now, though, the girl was left with nothing to do but mull over her thoughts. That, given her experience at the docks, was not a good thing. When she closed her eyes, Buffy could still feel the blood streaming down her face, the crack of the shogun as it went off, and the feel of its kick in her hand. Two people had died as a direct result of her actions and who knows how many had died in the fire itself. Buffy wished there was someone she could talk to, but that was a very short list.

Obviously, her first thought was to run to Giles. However, he was a Watcher. Telling him about something like this...it wouldn't go over very good. Besides, she was already on thin ice with him because of the runaway thing. No, he would probably put her under observation or something like that.

Next to Giles were Buffy's friends. Willow would most likely freak out and Buffy still felt like pounding Xander into paste. Needless to say they were both out. She didn't know Oz well enough to talk to him, either. Cordelia would just file it away for later use in some stupid argument. Outside of them, there was really no one left. No one except for...well, he might be willing to listen.

The Mayor was always busy to some extent and Buffy understood this. What she didn't understand was the constant flow of people coming in and out of his office at one thirty in the afternoon. She watched the door for a little while before her curiosity got the better of her. Pushing it open just a bit, she poked her head inside.

"...Golly, that's quite a price tag you have on a charm that's only from around from the late thirteen hundreds." The Mayor was holding up some sort of jewel and looking it over. And who was that he was talking to? That was a very familiar voice...

"You just don't have an eye for quality work, Mayor. Nor do you have a mind for business. Supply and demand." Okay, now Buffy pretty much knew who it was. The British accent gave up the game.

Opening the door, Buffy walked right on in. She drew one curious look from the Mayor and one absolutely terrified look from Ethan Rayne who was now on his feet. "Don't you think you should give him a discount, Ethan? I would take it as a **personal** favor considering how much that tattoo cost me to remove." The Slayer freaked him out even more when she put a strong hand on his shoulder and sat him right back down in the chair.

The poor Englishman was now caught between a rock and a blond hard place. "Buffy. How have you been?" To his credit, Ethan didn't look _too_ panicked, but he was very confused. "Been out there long?"

Buffy ignored him. "Boss, do you know what kind of slime you're dealing with here? This guy almost got most of Sunnydale turned into vampire chow last year."

"Oh, the Halloween thing. That was a fun year!" The Mayor actually looked amused by the whole thing which honestly shocked Buffy. "He's very lucky my boys didn't find him before you did, though. They would have made it even more fun." There we go. Now, that Buffy could get behind.

All in all, Ethan wasn't looking very pleased with his odds. "Ah, sorry about that. I just...you know...wanted to mess with Rupert a bit." He was practically squirming by now. "Look, the amulet? It's a gift! A...campaign contribution!"

The Mayor made a frank face and pocketed the jewel. "That's very kind of you, Mr. Rayne. I think our business," he looked through a few disheveled papers on this desk before continuing, "is just about done. Unless you know where I can get that specialty item I was looking for..."

"That thing." Even Ethan looked disturbed. "I have no idea where you can get your hands on the Box of Gavrok." With that, the Brit was dismissed and he passed by Buffy without even a snarky look.

Buffy lingered for a moment before plopping down in the comfy chair Ethan had just vacated. "So, what's the Box of Fragglerock?" she asked. It sounded mystical-y.

"It's the Box of Gavrok and it's no big deal." The Mayor was obviously avoiding the question, but he did so with a smile that said it would be best not to call him on it. "Anyway! Thanks for that little intercession. That man was asking for too much for a simple focusing crystal."

"So that's what it was. Need to do more spells or something?" Buffy didn't particularly mind, but the Mayor was starting to garner a bit more attention. Something just wasn't sitting right. "Where did you learn all your magic from, anyway? Did they teach you that in law school?"

Despite the insinuation, the Mayor erupted into a fit of chuckles. "Heavens no. It was just something I picked up...on the long road of life." The man looked wistful for a moment, but it was gone just as suddenly as it had appeared. "So, what can I do for you, little lady? Did you find a dress for tonight?"

Buffy was willing to accept that kind of answer. For now. "I found one, but I'm still not sure about this ceremony thing. I was...just doing my job." Besides the killing humans part. That's what she had come to talk about, though. "Mr. Wilkins, Have you ever...done something bad to do something good? Something really, really bad?"

Sometime during the question, the Mayor had gotten up to look out the large bay window he had beside his desk. When Buffy finished, he cut in, "You know, when I first took this job I had to make sacrifices. Sacrifices that would make normal people condemn me right out of the gate." He motioned for Buffy to join him and when she did he placed a fatherly arm around her shoulder and pulled up the blinds so all of Sunnydale was sprawled out before him. "But you know what? I don't regret it. I know deep down that this city will be better for it. Gosh, the entire state will be better for it. That's what keeps me sane and lets me do these kinds of things. The magic, the demons, everything else; it's all for those people walking and living down there."

"This is different than some political stuff!" Buffy argued. "I killed someone! The Slayer, me, defender of everything good, ended the life of another human! I-I'm a murderer...!"

Wilkins pinched his ward as hard as he could and frowned down at her when she snapped out of her self-loathing. "Now, none of that. You saved Mr. Finch's life; without you, his head would be sitting on my desk right now, murdered by the very people you had to kill to save him. Listen, I can't tell you how many times I've had to sign-off on psychiatric reviews for police officers that have killed criminals in the line of duty. It's all a part of protecting the people they represent. They enjoy their work, go back to their families, and go right back on the beat the day after. It's part of being human; protecting what you believe in."

Those words seem to have sank in a bit. Buffy was still obviously disturbed, but it didn't look like she was ready to throw herself out of the window. "I'm supposed to be better than human," she mumbled, mostly to herself.

"You are what you are, I am what I am, and the people you fight against are who they are. If you look at everything in black and white, you'll be beating up yourself for years to come. Heck, you'll probably have a nervous breakdown!" Sobering up a bit, the most powerful man in Sunnydale suddenly looked like one of the weakest as his eyes lingered on the people walking the streets below.

"There will always be certain things we have to do in our line of work. Sacrifices that others wouldn't make or steps they would be able to take. It's all about the **big** picture. If you stop looking at that, then what are you living for? The moment? The moment is fleeting and unstable. Always, always, always plan ahead. Little nuggets of good will never add up to a mountain, Buffy. They will always just be little nuggets. Peanuts." He turned to the Slayer and smiled one of his thousand-watt grins at her. "And you, Miss Summers, are not a peanuts kind of girl. That's why we get up every morning, put one foot in front of the other, and keep walking our chosen path. We might have to push other people off of it once in awhile, and that can be tough, but so long as you end up building that mountain in the end it's all worth it."

Buffy looked up at the Mayor, mulling over his words. "Peanuts, huh?" Buffy didn't understand it at all. What did peanuts have to do with this? Sacrifices, though, she understood. "Sacrifices. That's the story of my life."

"Then maybe it's time to write a new book?"

With a chuckle, Wilkins gave the girl's shoulder one last squeeze before closing the blind. "Remember what I said; you are what you are. Never ask yourself to be anything else." He walked back over to his desk and pulled out a set of keys from a drawer and jingled them. "What do you say we head out for lunch and some ice cream? There's been enough gloom and doom to last a lifetime in this office!"

_'Maybe, just maybe, I can put off the doom for a few more memories,'_ Buffy thought as she followed the Mayor. For the first time in a long time, life wasn't looking so bad at the moment...

* * *

"**L**ife sucks!"

Buffy poked her head into the ballroom once again, but the number of people who were milling around hadn't changed since the last time she'd looked. In fact, it seemed like more were coming at every tick of the clock.

The Mayor had already headed out to play host with all the various movers and shakers after giving none-too-subtle hints that Buffy should do the same. It wasn't that the blond teenager didn't want to go out there, eat some great food, and have fun, not at all. There was just...this expectation hanging over her. When she had first walked in with her Boss, people had actually clapped. So much attention for doing something that she had been doing for years.

For sure, she had always wanted more attention and recognition. Slaying was a thankless job for so long, to suddenly be thrust into a spotlight was overwhelming. Yet, here she was. Hiding in the back of the room, trying to sneak behind one of the larger curtains.

"Buffy! Come on out here so the people can see you!"

Oh no. Sometime during her pity introspection, the Mayor had gathered a small mob and had spotted her. A small, clapping mob made up mostly of policemen, politicians, and lawyers.

It was like facing the Master all over again.

"Uh, hi..." Buffy tried not to look too embarrassed and moved from her hiding spot. "Flag had a crease in it. It's my civic duty to fix...creases on flags."

Of course, being the mindless civil servants that they were, and not wanting to piss off the Mayor, they laughed at the perceived joke. Better than looking at the girl like she was insane and getting called on it.

One of them, a clean-cut man in an army officer's uniform, stepped out of the crowd and held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Summers. I'm Captain Munroe, the guy who's been wishing he could say this in person for a very long time." When Buffy shook his hand, the man's face lit up just a bit. "You've dealt with more stuff than any of my men or women could. If it weren't for you, the entire city would have been overrun a long time ago. I just want to thank you for that."

Buffy just stared blankly as this sentiment was echoed by just about everyone else in the group. An older man sniffled as he grasped his wife's hand. "You saved our son's life last year when that vampire started executing people at that club downtown. I don't know how I can thank you, but if you ever need anything my law office is always open to you." The old woman patted her husband's hand and gave the Slayer a soft smile as well.

"You all know about me?" Buffy had to ask because things were quickly going into Twilight Zone Mode. "You're not freaked out? You don't want me to leave?"

The very thought of that seemingly confused Buffy's well-wishers. The old lawyer's wife, who looked the most unsure, spoke up, "Why would we want that, dear? You're our city's hero."

A hero. A simple title that Buffy had never applied to herself. She had heard Xander go on about that whenever he was joking around, but the Slayer had never considered herself a bonafide hero before. It didn't make sense. If these people knew what she had done...who she had killed...then no one would think of her as a hero. Heroes didn't kill people!

"Attention everyone, attention." A shrill voice popped from the large speakers set up around the room. The small raised stage at the front was now occupied by a mousish woman, one of the Mayor's secretaries, who was tapping a champagne glass to get attention. "Welcome to the one hundredth annual Sunnydale Civics Awards." She paused to allow the polite clapping to subside. "And now, I turn the floor over to tonight's Master of Proceedings, Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third."

Buffy's boss waved good-naturedly as he walked away from the little group. Thanking his secretary for announcing him, he tapped it a few times while he waited for everyone's attention.

"Testing, testing?" The crowd laughed at the slightly shy look their elected leader was sporting as he waited for a thumbs up from the guy running the sound system. "Well! I welcome you all here tonight and I hope you're having a great time. Food, drinks, and friends; the best of the world, right here. Can we get the tables out here now?" He pulled a bit of slack and walked over to the edge of the podium while a few stagehands rushed out with a table for the podium and dinning tables for the guests and the food trays that contained the main courses rolled out. "Dinner will be in a second, folks, so just keep a lid on those stomachs. I can hear Bob's from up here."

Seemingly left to her own devices, Buffy quickly wandered away from the crowd of people she had been talking to with the Mayor. She didn't want to talk with them when there wasn't a buffer around, just in case they changed their tune. No one actually considered her a hero, that was just silly. She wandered over to the bar and picked up the nearest thing she could get her hands on. If there was one night that called for trying liquor, tonight was it.

After only a second to prepare herself, Buffy downed a large gulp of whatever the bottle she had grabbed was. She immediately regretted it and nearly tossed what little she had eaten earlier. "How can adults stand this stuff?!" she hacked.

"Well, we usually don't start with a straight shot of bourbon." Buffy wheeled around at the sound of the voice, and in the process got her bottle taken away. Giles looked at the brand and groaned. "Really Buffy, eighty proof whiskey? And American at that."

Buffy looked like she had just been caught with her hand in the bad-tasting cookie jar. "I wasn't, you didn't...I thought it was Pepsi." She licked her lips, lapping up whatever evidence was left on them. "So, what's up? World need saving?"

The Watcher shook his head and poured a glass of wine. He did set the bottle of bourbon between himself and Buffy as he leaned up against the counter, though. "No, nothing like that. I was simply invited, like many public servants, to this little party. It's for you, isn't it?" There was a slight edge in his voice that Buffy found difficult to ignore.

"Wasn't my idea," she pouted. She licked her lips again and found that she enjoyed the outdoor-ish taste, despite how it felt going down. With Giles standing right there, though, she wasn't about to take another drink. "So, you heard all about it?"

Giles slightly nodded over his wine glass. His attention was focused on the Mayor as he went into a lecture about civil service and past honoraries. "Do I need to tell you that you were rash in going off by yourself? I know you have a...a...new sense of independence, but I don't want anything to happen to you. At the very least, I could have probably spared you from this farce."

Buffy shot a slight glare over at her watcher. It wasn't that she didn't feel a bit odd about getting an award for something, but the dismissive way in which Giles had said it. "You don't think I've earned a reward?" she challenged.

"What?" Giles was hardly paying his charge any attention. He was far more focused on how there seemed to be a duplicity to what the Mayor was saying, as if there were some giant inside joke in the room that most everyone was aware of. "Buffy, how well do you know Wilkins?" he asked, not taking his eyes off either the Mayor or his shady-looking staff.

Now the Slayer was properly pissed. She grabbed the bottle of bourbon back and took another swig, albeit drinking less than her first attempt. It burned its way down the girl's throat, but it made her headache ratchet down a few levels. "He's like anyone else." Buffy knew she should have mentioned something about what the Mayor was doing, this was her Watcher, after all, but the blond couldn't force herself to let the words slip past her lips.

Mayor Wilkins had taken her in, had fixed her life, hadn't judged her, hadn't lied to her, hadn't explicitly asked her to go out and save the world...he had just been there. Understanding and firm, the public servant had gone above and beyond his job description. Buffy felt compelled to cover for the man. After all, who was Giles to judge another person on using magic?

"...and now, it's time for the lady of the hour, Miss Buffy Anne Summers, to come and receive the key to the city. Buffy? Could you come up here?"

Oh shit! The Slayer hastily put down the liquor bottle and made her way through the clapping crowd. She hopped up onto the stage and shyly accepted the symbolic ribbon Wilkins slipped over her head. There was a small key hanging off of it with her name inscribed. Even though the gesture was small, it was the only gift she had ever received for her capacity as the Slayer, aside from Mr. Pointy. Now the crowd was calling for a speech, that wasn't good!

"I couldn't, I mean..." The Mayor was already handing her the microphone, though, and Buffy found herself on stage in front of a crowd of eager people with absolutely nothing to say. "Ah...I'm...really honored to receive this." Buffy wanted to leave right then and there, but the happy faces in the room with her made her linger. They were all so bright and thankful. Honestly thankful.

Something hit Buffy's cheek and dripped to the floor. The blond rubbed her eyes with her free hand, surprised at herself. "I really don't know what to say. I just did what I've always done, I didn't ask for any thanks. I don't deserve any thanks."

The faces of the people she had killed so easily flashed before her eyes and made her nauseous. The feel of their blood splattering on her face, their expressions as they looked death in the eye. Buffy Summers was a haunted woman. "I shouldn't have this award, I shouldn't even be here! My entire life is about sacrifice, I should even be ready to give that up!" The crowd was properly stunned as their honored guest started to break down. "Did they deserve to die? What made them better than me?" she sobbed. The Mayor stepped in and wrapped an arm around the blond, easing her away from the microphone.

"Because you saved my life!"

A lone voice broke the silence that had befallen the gathering. Buffy looked up and saw Allen Finch pushing his way up to the stage. He looked out of breath, probably due to his being late. Still, the man looked distressed. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead right now. You're a hero," he said.

The old couple from before also spoke up, saying, "How could you say such a thing about yourself?! You've saved this entire city time after time!" A general chorus of shouts rose up afterwards, their den drowning out anything else.

"You saved my daughter!" said one, "You killed the monster that killed my husband," said another. People who looked more at home in mansions and on television were all yelling like they were at some great stadium, cheering on the home team.

Mayor Wilkins smiled and squeezed Buffy's shoulder. "You see? I told you earlier; you don't have to be anything but yourself, and still people will support you. You protected a person, you've saved lives. Human, demon, whatever it is, whatever you had to go through, you've done what you think is right. Always be proud of that a few deaths now prevented a possible slaughter later. Think about that."

As the Mayor left Buffy's side to calm the crowd, Buffy absorbed his words. Done what she thought was right? How could killing someone, a living, breathing person, be right? She looked at the people she had done it for, though, and realized that they were what she had to protect. The people. The whole over the few.

Allen Finch played a role in the government of the city. If he were to have died, criminals everywhere would have been emboldened. How many of the people here would have suffered? How many more across Sunnydale would have died? Did the lives of two criminals, who had taken up with a demon, mean more than the safety of thousands? It was then that Buffy began to understand.

"Peanuts," she whispered. That was what the Mayor had been talking about. Alone, a single peanut wasn't very much. You get an entire bag of them, though, and you have a meal. One single person wasn't much against an entire family, city, or even planet. "Angel, I get it now." In the moment she had killed Angel, Buffy had made a choice. Either him, or the rest of the world. She had done it then without hesitation and so she had done it last night. That is what it meant to be a human. That is what it meant to be a Slayer. Not to be a mindless demon-killing machine, but to have the strength to make a difference. To carve your own path of justice.

The needs of the many.

Half a room away, Giles was still shocked into silence. Buffy had...had...what would the Counsel say? What would they do? A Slayer killing a human was unprecedented, even if it were an accident. What was more, these people knew! All of them! Buffy's secret was open to most of Sunnydale's elite. And the others...oh no...

"Buffy!" Willow, Xander, and Oz had mostly been hanging around at the back, managed to get over to the side of the stage where Buffy was standing. They had heard most of everything that had happened, but it was still processing. Cordelia hadn't even tried to understand and was still sitting at their table, her brain trying to work out what had just happened.

Xander, as always, was the first to start the question barrage. "Whoa, Buffster, what was that all about?" The teen was sporting a pretty annoyed look and he was ignoring the glares Willow was sending him. "You killed someone? Like, a real person?"

"Xander..." Willow warned. Even Oz, who hadn't known Buffy as long as the others, was stepping back. He was pulling Willow back as well.

Between the epiphany she had just had and Xander's bitching, Buffy was finding it harder and harder to control herself. He was always the first to condemn, the first to cause friction. He had been all for killing Angel, all for putting the blame on Buffy, all for sticking his nose into family business. Actually, she had never gotten around to talking to Xander about that.

A hard right hook finally shut Xander up and he actually did a full turn from the force. No one was able to react fast enough to catch the unconscious teen as he hit the dance floor. There were several screams from frightened guests, and Buffy felt someone's arm trying to restrain her from going after him again.

"Get him out of here," the Mayor hissed to his staff. He didn't feel Buffy struggling against him, but who knew what the girl might do to the others. "And you three, go with him."

Willow looked between Xander and Buffy in shock, like she couldn't believe that had actually happened. "Buffy-" But what could she say? No one seemed to have any answers.

Taking the decision away from everyone, Buffy roughly shook-off the Mayor's hold and stormed past her friends. Giles, who was just running over, was only spared the smallest of glances before he too was passed. Buffy had seen the shock and horror at her actions. These people, they didn't get it either. Buffy detoured for only a moment to grab her bottle of whiskey before storming out with all the fanfare of a marauding demon, leaving only sour looks, shocked friends, and contemplative bosses in her wake.

* * *

**A**way from the uproar of the room, the accusative and disgusted looks of her friends, and the weight of her actions, Buffy began to walk aimlessly around town. There wasn't anywhere she wanted to be, yet she didn't want to go back home.

Why couldn't they understand, like she had come to understand, what was the best way to protect people? If you only save one person, then that same person might be killed by something else that you didn't have the guts to save them from. Then what did your action mean? Nothing, that's what!

"They don't have the stomach for it," Buffy murmured. Wasn't that why Giles left all of the dirty work to her, the Slayer? Because he couldn't hack it. Everyone else was all to happy to drop the workload back into her lap last year, as well, once she got back. It was just so damn frustrating! The Slayer took another swig from the large bottle she was carrying around and found that it helped her nerves.

What was so hard to get? When she had to kill someone to get rid of the Master, so why did anyone care now? Of course they hadn't cared, since it had been Buffy herself. Whenever someone had to sacrifice, it was always her! She was the Slayer, the Chosen One, the biggest doormat in her generation. The Watchers didn't do anything but drop trouble and orders into her lap.

"It's a broken system," Buffy slurred. She tipped her bottle until the last drop hit her tongue and then tossed it away into a alleyway. Stupid Giles, stupid friends, stupid Xander, stupid Angel. They had all wanted so much, but what did they get in the end? "Not a damn thing," the Slayer laughed. She ran out into the street and spread out her arms as she looked up at the sky. Finally free, free to be her own Slayer, to bring her own brand of justice. Free to decide who should and shouldn't be left alone, who was the big threat, and what to do about it. Free to-

"-good evening, Miss."

Free to be caught by one of Sunnydale's finest. Apparently, a giddy blond girl in a formal dress dancing around in the street gave cops the impression that they were dealing with someone drunk in public. That, and the cop's partner had seen Buffy toss away the bottle. Being as happy as she was, though, Buffy complied with police with only minor hitches. Badges were shiny and Buffy just felt the urge to fiddle with them as the police tried to handcuff her.

Fortunately for Buffy's permanent record, the captain on duty knew of the girl's relationship with City Hall and kept everything fairly quiet. Thus, when Buffy finally awoke the next morning, she didn't have any other surprises to worry about. Not counting her first hangover, of course.

"Thanks, Chief," Buffy grumbled. The portly officer had brought her an aspirin and coffee which she had gladly accepted. "Oh god, I'll never touch another drop of liquor again. Something is trying to crawl out of my skull."

The older man chuckled and closed the cell behind Buffy. "That's what they all say, Miss Summers. Sometimes you just need to take the edge off. Next time, do it in your own house, though," he stated.

Buffy shot him a glare. "Aren't you supposed to stop impressionable kids like me from drinking?" Hardly a good example.

"If I had your job, I'd be drinking too," the Chief honestly answered. "I'm actually glad you were dropped by, we have your stuff from the other night and it needs to be claimed."

The pair walked over to the large weapons cabinet and Buffy took another drink of the bitter coffee she absolutely hated while the Chief fumbled around with the lock. He finally got it opened and passed a stake to the Slayer. "One block of wood, returned." Buffy pocketed it lovingly. She was shocked when a large shotgun was passed to her, though. "And one Ithaca 37 Stakeout, complete with shell bandoleer. The guys down at the station threw that in for you."

This was probably the last thing Buffy ever wanted to see. She held the gun like it was something alien, something reminding her of what she had done. "I don't want this...thing," the teen sputtered.

"What?" He checked the locker's manifest again and scratched his head. "It says here that this is yours. Did we put the tag on the wrong gun?"

"I don't use guns at all!" Buffy forcefully responded, only to grab her head in pain. "I just picked it up a the boat last night," she clarified in a quieter voice.

To the Slayer's aggravation, the Chief whistled at that. "You mean to tell me you face down demons, vampires, and everything else running around Sunnydale without a gun?" He took off his hat and really scratched his head this time. "I'll tell you what, you keep that in case you need it. It's already off the books as evidence." Before Buffy could argue any more, the officer had already ran over to help with an unruly prisoner being brought into the cell block.

And so, Buffy was left standing in the middle of the police station holding a mug of black coffee in one hand, a shotgun in the other, and bandoleer slung over her chest. Maybe it was time to get some combat boots and cut all her hair off, Buffy wondered as she marched out the door after grabbing some sunglasses for her eyes. Not like she was trying to look just a little bit badass. They were just for her hangover.

Yup.


	5. Punch Drunk Loathing

It was high noon when the long-distance Greyhound bus rolled up into the Sunnydale stop. A few people piled out, but it was mostly empty. The driver was the last to pile out and he checked over the tires and latches on the bus before heading inside the small station himself. It had been a long drive from Salt Lake City and he was looking forward to some downtime.

Unbenounced to the passengers or the driver, there was one more rider to get off the bus. When all was quiet, a soft thumping sound started up from the lower baggage compartment near the rear wheels. After a few moments of continuous hammering, the latch popped from the bolts holding it in place and a figure hopped out. During this lunch break, there were few people around that had a chance of seeing the figure heave a duffel back onto their shoulder.

Pulling out a cigarette, the girl lit up before walking out of the bus yard towards the small town sprawled out before her...

**Chapter 5: Punch Drunk Loathing**

**F**our more hours until dusk, just four little hours. Why couldn't it be sooner? Why was Buffy even counting down the hours? Why wasn't the Boss calling with some work? Why didn't anything interesting happen during the day?!

After the disaster that was Buffy's awards ceremony, things had fallen into a pattern. Mostly that pattern had revolved around Buffy ignoring anything and everything that had to do with her life such as friends, socializing, and...well, that was pretty much all there was to Buffy's life anyway, so that just left her job. Night after night of slaying and running errands for the Boss. Going downtown to the beaten up old magic shop, taking a troupe of vampires into the sewers to find some rare mushroom being grown by a demon cult, or even keeping tabs on other beasties that were just passing through, nothing was too mundane for the blond.

Not that she was trying to run from life, Buffy told herself. After all, isn't this what she had always wanted? No Watcher, no annoying creatures trying to end the world, no annoying parents; this was supposed to be the dream of any young girl! Buffy reminded herself that she should be thankful, ecstatic even, that she had money of her own and an apartment all to herself.

So...why did she feel so miserable?

There were several explanations, but none the Slayer thought were adequate. Overworked? No, Buffy still felt ready to run out into the night and bust some skulls. Stressed? Not with that new jacuzzi tub she had installed the other week. Maybe it was the lack of banter? Well, working with vampires kept Buffy up-to-date on the latest scathing cutdowns and black humor.

What was it then?

"Ah, that's it," Buffy grumbled as she watched the title screen for a rerun of Cheers come on her big screen TV. Reminded Buffy a little of the Bronze, a place she hadn't been back to in weeks for fear of running into Willow or Xander.

What was she to do, though? Buffy couldn't crawl back to them, not when they probably hated her guts. Besides, they weren't of any more use even if they did see the big picture. The Slayer doubted that Willow would help with research if it lead to...to killing people. Xander would just start screaming his head off and she'd be forced to clock him again.

Not that Buffy had actually killed anyone else. Thankfully, she had so far been able to simply beat the ever-loving crap out of any humans she came across on patrols who weren't on the up-and-up and then dump them at the police station.

A more shocking development was Buffy's tolerance of using a gun, though. At first, she hadn't even wanted to take the thing out of her weapon's locker. Then, during a particularly boring day, she had brought it out to clean and maintenance along with her other weapons. That, of course, meant getting specific cleaning supplies which in turn lead Buffy back to the police station. She then proceeded to get into a very long-winded conversation about ammo, shotguns, and slaying in general which ended with a trip down to the basement firing range and a few free lessons. Now it was a rare sight to see Buffy without the Stakeout slung over her back during a patrol.

But that was all beside the point.

Buffy flopped and rolled around on her bed as she tried to think of something to pass the time. It was already 3:00PM and there were still more than a few hours left until nightfall. Summer, Buffy found, wasn't that great when you literally had nothing to do. She had bought everything for the apartment, a new wardrobe, all the N64 games she could ever play alone, and pretty much every cute thing to just toss around the loft for atmosphere.

Buffy was honestly shopped-out.

Finally, a light knocking on the apartment's door provided a much-needed distraction. Of course, it was probably just another magazine salesman or girl scout.

"I'm coming," Buffy sighed when the knocking continued. To her surprise, it was none other than Allen Finch standing on the other side of her door. "Allen! Tell me the Boss has something he needs me to do. I'm going crazy. I might already be crazy. Best not to keep me waiting."

Finch looked flustered at the Buffy-isms, as he had come to categorize the Slayer's unusual banter, but then again pretty much anything unusual had him flustered. "So, how are you doing? Keeping busy?" He was trying to make polite conversation, but Buffy was having none of that.

"I'm just waiting for the sun to go down so all the baddies will come out and let me kill them. What do you think?" Buffy had to cut Finch off so he'd eventually get to the point. In a way, he was a bit like Willow. Only, you know, a fair bit more annoying.

"Ah, um, the Mayor sent me. We...we kind of have a problem. Someone's dropped by for a visit and a few of the demons have left to join them."

"What ever happened to employer loyalty?" Vampires were totally unreliable when it came to things like this. "Something new, big, and scary rolls into town and they all jump ship. Gives me an excuse to dust them, though. Who's the new Big Bad?" Buffy could hardly wait for a good brawl.

Finch pulled a manila envelope out of his coat and spread it out on a nearby coffee table. "Kakistos. Ancient vampire with...um...a hand problem...thing."

The slayer looked at the drawing of the demon and whistled. "Hand problem is putting it lightly. He looks like a walking cow with fangs." The Greek vampire had hooves for hands. Who had hooves for hands? That was just silly. "Has he set up shop yet?" Now Buffy was in full Slayer mode. She was already thinking of a few places a vamp like this would want to hang out.

"We don't know where he's put a lair, but he is looking for someone. A slayer."

Okay, so he was a fan. "I love it when they come to me. It's almost like having the gym delivered to your house." Buffy grabbed her leather jacket and slipped it on. Brushing past Finch, she rummaged through her weapon's drawer until she pulled a stake. She also grabbed her Ithaca Stakeout and slung it over her shoulder.

When the skittish Deputy Mayor spotted the shotgun, he paled more than usual. "I-is that the same gun as...?"

Buffy grinned as she tied up her boots. "Yup. The shots won't kill vampires by themselves, but what they don't tell you is that it takes their heads off better than a sword." She only had the one bandoleer of shells, though, and she didn't want to waste time going to the prescient for more rounds. Instead, she popped out a shell and tossed it to Finch. "Buy me a few boxes of those, okay? Key is under the mat." Before the man could argue, she was out the door, whistling as she went.

* * *

**W**alking though Sunnydale at dusk was deceiving. Nice people, a clean city, low crime; an all-American place to live. However, the white elephant was that everyone here knew not to walk these streets at night. At night, these streets were the undead's.

A young teenager wasn't walking on the main streets, though. She was ducking around through the back alleys, in the darkness, her eyes darting around and looking for threats. In particular, she was looking at any cars passing by on the street with tented windows.

Ducking inside a worn-down hotel, the girl pulled out a few wrinkled bills. "Single."

The man who was watching a football game behind the clerk's desk pulled a dusty old register out below the desk. "Yeah, so what? What's your name and how long you stayin'?"

"Name's Faith and none of your fucking business."

* * *

**I**t was a quiet day in the Southland Industrial Park. Painted windows, bolted doors, a nice homeless guy in the corner; just about better than any crypt. Several vampires were lurking around, uneasy during the day.

"Something doesn't feel right," a tall one mumbled. He felt jittery, like there was something about to happen. Unfortunately for him, he was correct.

A brick crashed through one of the painted windows and flooded the warehouse with light. Three vamps, who were sleeping, instantly burst into flames and the rest were too busy trying to avoid being cooked to guard the door.

The handle was blasted away with a loud crack and a booted foot brought the rest of the door down. Buffy rolled inside and gave her shotgun a pump before blasting the head off a nearby vampire who had ran over. She picked her targets and blew off both feet of the one remaining vampire. With one round left in the tube, she marched up to him and rested the barrel on the demon's forehead.

"You know what I hate?" Buffy asked as she gave her shotgun another pump. Both her and the vamp could hear the round click into the tube. "I hate it when my boss tells me that some new vampire is looking for me. Not only that, half of _our_ vamps just up and leave to help this new guy find and kill me." The slayer gave the vamp a good push with the shotgun so that he was forced backwards onto the stone floor. Buffy slammed her foot onto his chest and repositioned the gun barrel over the vampire's throat. "Now, what can you tell me about a Greek vampire with freaky claw...things. Cow things. Not utters, though. Hooves."

Looking from the shotgun to Buffy's slightly amused face, the vampire realized he was staring down a second death so, like all good lackeys, he started singing. "Kakistos. He came into town yesterday. He-he and this other guy, his lieutenant, started buying up talent at a price higher than the Mayor would pay. They said they were going slayer hunting. I don't know anything else!" Buffy pressed down on the vamp's throat until he could barely talk. "I know a few of them are down at Willy's Bar! But that's it, I swear!"

Buffy groaned as she heard where she had to go next. "Willy. Why does everything lead back to him?" She shouldered her shotgun and walked out of the pool of blood that was rapidly spreading all over the floor. As she walked out, the vampire gave an labored grunt as he tried to stand. Buffy heard it and turned. "Oh, right. I forgot you." She tapped her shotgun on the bottom of her boot to clear the dust out the barrel before slowly bringing up. "Tell this to your buddies when you see them:"

"Don't cross the Boss."

* * *

"**J**esus, don't the cops around here do shit?" Faith was just ducking out of her rat hole room when she heard shots ringing in the distance. California was supposed to be better than Boston, but this place was like a shooting range tonight.

The sun was just starting to go down and the brunette slayer felt the urge to go out and prowl around. She knew she wasn't completely safe, but staying holed-up inside her hotel room wasn't going to change things. Here, in Sunnydale, it would be harder for Kakistos to find her again. If he did...well, she still had her bus pass.

Still, Faith didn't think she'd need it for at least a few weeks. Walking into the dark alley behind the hotel, she slipped into a well-developed routine for patrolling that she had honed in Boston. Reaching out with her senses, she picked out a vamp from a crowd of drifters lingering about and started to ghost him.

Back when she was alive, Faith's watcher had said that one vampire, if left alone, would lead to others. That was something that Faith was very keen on. She had a lot of tension to work out and not all of it could be done between the sheets. This particular vampire looked like he was going to lead to a real goldmine if left alone.

Oddly, the demon wasn't heading to a crypt or blood bank. No, he was brazenly walking out into the street like a normal person. Into a bar, even. A rundown, pathetic shell of a bar. Not only that, Faith could feel many, many vampires and demons lurking inside.

"Time to go to work," Faith sing-songed with a grin. She pulled a stake from her coat and started a nice saunter. It was her "time to kick some ass" saunter that she reserved only for very special occasions. As she was about to open the door, her senses went haywire. So much so that it nearly stunned her for a moment.

A short blond girl pushed her way in front of Faith but was kind enough to hold the door open. "Coming in?" she asked. The dusty slayer blinked her eyes and managed to get back control of her senses in time to nod. All the vamps here must be affecting her inner slayer.

The girl was almost Faith's height now that the slayer looked closer; it was just the large leather jacket that made the blond look smaller than she was. That, and the shotgun resting in the crook of her arm was making her walk strangely. It was an Ithaca 34 Stakeout; really, a beautiful gun but with far too much kick for a girl like that. Faith knew enough of her old haunts in Boston to know that she didn't want to be in this bar at the moment, though. Unfortunately, the door was already open and she had to walk into the den of smoke and bad booze.

The inside of Willy's was nothing to write home about. Low lighting, a few stools, various cocktails of blood behind the bar, and clientèle that would make Alfred Hitchcock choke on his dinner. Willy saw the two women walk in, but something in Buffy's eyes made him keep his mouth shut. The blond teen looked around at the faces looking back at her; some were new allies that she recognized from City Hall while others were some of the rare few that escaped her during a patrol. They weren't who she was looking for. Risking a look back at the vampire that she had held the door open for, Buffy wondered if the girl was part of Kakistos's crew since she was a new face. It would make sense given the feeling the slayer was getting from her. There was something powerful about the punkish brunette. If it was enough to make even Buffy's senses tweak, then it was something worth looking into.

"Do I know you?" Buffy suddenly asked. Perhaps the lamest way to start a conversation with a stranger, but it would work.

Faith looked surprised at the sudden question. "Ah, uh, don't think so?" She just wanted to get to the bar to get a drink. At first, she had thought the blond was going to rob the place. Now, though, she wasn't so sure. "I don't know anyone who carries a piece like that," Faith motioned to Buffy's right side and at the shotgun hidden within, "on this side of the US."

"Protection. You never know what to expect out here." Buffy walked over to the bar and sat down. She knew the other girl was going to follow if only out of curiosity. "Bourbon, Willy."

"One bourbon, one bottle of Jack," Faith corrected. She flashed a grin when Buffy's eyebrow ticked upwards a bit. "I don't like overrated moonshine, Blondie."

Buffy drummed her fingers on the bar, not letting the dig get to her. So, the girl didn't out and out order blood. Did she know Buffy was the Slayer? If so, why not try to get away as fast as possible to go get her boss? Maybe she thought Buffy was just a regular girl and was looking for a bite to eat? That didn't make sense either, though. She had seen the shotgun despite Buffy's best efforts to keep it hidden.

"So, are you new in town?" Buffy asked as she popped a beer nut into her mouth. The slaying earlier had gotten her a bit hungry.

Faith nodded and reached over the other girl to grab a handful of the snacks. "Yeah, just got here today," she answered in between her loud crunching.

Their drinks arrived before someone else could pose a question and Faith quickly popped the top of her large bottle. "Cheers!" she shouted before downing a good portion without preamble. Buffy was far more conservative with her choice of poison and only swallowed when the brunette took a second gulp.

Alright. The girl could down half a bottle of Jack Daniels without effort, made her Slayer-Senses go haywire, and either didn't know Buffy was the Slayer or didn't care. Things weren't looking too good for the brunette's chances at the moment.

"So, what's your name?"

With a waggle of the eyebrows, Faith responded, "Want something to go with my phone number, huh?"

Buffy's face scrunched up in confusion and her brow dropped. "I don't have your number." Maybe the other girl wasn't as immune to alcohol as first believed.

Faith took another drink from her bottle and wiped her mouth off on her coat sleeve. "True, but with all the questions you're asking me I'm guessin' that that's what you'd want next."

The blond slayer let out a sigh when half the bar started to snicker at her. Wonderful. Losing face in front of the vampires is what lead to this little problem in the first place. "You might want to just answer my questions when I'm pretending to be off the clock. You wouldn't like me when I'm working," Buffy threatened.

"Yeah, well, if you think you can scare me, then you're barking up the wrong tree. Worse things than you have tried to shake me down and I'm still here." Faith easily finished off the bottle of Jack and slammed it down on the counter. "Thanks for the free drink, Twinkie, but I've got things to do."

As Faith was walking away, she felt the cold metal of a shotgun barrel catching up with her head. The bar was already starting to clear out of vamps, much to her annoyance. "Okay, since you don't know what you're getting into, I'll let this slide," Faith growled. She had really wanted to clear the bar herself.

"Funny, that was going to be my line. You might think you're miss 'big, bad, punk-pire' because bullets can't hurt you, but I **guarantee** that a twelve gauge shell can cut through your neck just as fast as a sword."

The next few moments would mesmerize the only witness left in the bar as Faith decided she had had enough of the lippy blond. The dusky slayer twirled and hit the barrel faster than Buffy could pull the trigger and the shot went wide, ripping a hole in the wall. Instantly, the other teen twirled the shotgun around until she could swing it backwards and try to club the brunette in the back of the head. It would have worked if Faith hadn't already dropped to the floor.

Buffy leapt over the attempted sweep and gave her shotgun a pump midair. As she landed, the Ithaca unloaded into the place where Faith's head had been only a moment before, blasting a fair-sized hole in the floor. The Bostonian had rolled out of the way and was now making a break for the back exit. Shot after shot tore through the bar as Buffy tried to nail the girl and only a last second leap saved Faith from getting hit. Out of shells, the gun was slung back over the blond's back by its strap and the slayer sprinted off after her prey.

The chase was on.

Faith, who was starting to wonder just what the hell she had gotten into, had the advantage as she tore up the outside steps to get street level. Twinkie was good. Real good. The Boston slayer hadn't had such a close shave since the last time Kakistos had caught up with her in Cleveland. Hell, a few stray shot had actually tore into her leg. She was bleeding, but the wounds were mostly superficial. The other girl could not be allowed to catch up, though. Faith couldn't take another barrage like that without serious cover. Or a tank. Whichever she found first.

As she could hear someone coming up the stairs after her, Faith made for the fire escape attached to the side of the bar. She easily pulled herself up the ladder, which was only half-down, and was half way up the second one when her pursuer finally spotted her.

"Climbing? Are you kidding me?" the blond grunted. Nevertheless, she too started up the metal construct.

Faith finally hit the top and ran over to a large air conditioning unit that was humming a few yards over. There she waited until she heard boots softly scuffing on the shingles. With a supreme about of patience and control, the dusty slayer waited for her hunter to get closer and closer to her hiding place. Just before the other girl came into striking distance, though, Faith heard new rounds being loaded into the blond's shotgun. Even though she knew she had been scouted and that her ambush was foiled, Faith couldn't' afford to wait.

The first strike came faster than Buffy had thought it would. She didn't have enough time to load even bring the barrel up before her gun was knocked away. It slid along the roof until it hit the lip all the way on the other end.

"No more boomstick, blondie," Faith taunted. Her hand snaked out and grabbed Buffy's own as it balled into a fist. "What ya planning to do now?"

Buffy answered by driving her forehead into Faith's face. As the Bostonian staggered back, Buffy wrenched her hand out of the other teen's grasp and drove it into her midsection. Following this up with a knee to the chin, the other slayer was soon sprawled out on the ground.

Even though she had won a breather, Buffy didn't have a stake handy. She looked around for something else to substitute, but was caught sleeping by Faith's recovery time. Amazingly, the brunette had already shrugged off the earlier punishment. A strong hand grasped the back of Buffy's leg and easily collapsed her knee, driving the slayer down to the ground.

"Fucking shit, that really hurt!" Faith grabbed Buffy's skull in both hands and threw herself backwards. Blond hair met black shingles as a loud crack came from the blond's skull as it impacted. Not bothering to follow up, the brunette rolled to her feet and made a mad dash to the shotgun. Grabbing it and rolling into a spin, the Slayer twirled around and took aim. "Alright, now it's time to...play?"

Faith blinked as her declaration was met with silence. There was no one on the roof at all. She scanned for any sign of the blond but only the routine twirling of the nearby air conditioner caught Faith's attention. Then, in the distance, the slayer heard the sound of boots on roof tiles.

Impossible! The nearest rooftop was easily thirty feet away! Nevertheless, Faith followed the sound and saw the blond running the opposite direction, full-tilt. It was then that Faith saw it. She saw the blond slam her foot down, while running, and easily clear a twenty-foot gap between roofs without breaking stride.

Slowly, Faith got to her feet. Now she was pretty sure the girl wasn't a vampire. She had to be a demon of some kind, but no vampire could clear distances like that nor move quite that fast. At least, none that she had seen. Faith looked down at the shotgun still in her hands and sighed. Now she was carrying around a loaded weapon, on the roof of a bar that had just gotten shot up. She could hear sirens in the distance, too.

"What the fuck am I going to do no-"

The slayer never got to finish her remark as something impacted with her at a bone-crushing speed. Without any control, Faith flew through the air, twisting as she went, and crashed into a metal exhaust pipe. Several things inside her audible snapped when this happened and the girl gaged up some blood.

"Thanks for holding that for me," Buffy stated as she dusted herself off. Her breathing was only the slightest bit stressed as she walked over to her fallen firearm to reclaim it. She gave it a pump and proceeded over to the prone figure of Faith laying several yards away on the other side of the roof. "You know, it's great that vampires aren't bright. They see someone running away and they don't even keep their guard up. Did it ever occur to you that I could just make a U-turn somewhere and double back?"

With the little strength Faith had left, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She had hit the pipe arm-first, so that was broken. She had also probably ruptured something, judging by how much blood was pouring into her mouth with every breath. Not the best of places to be at the moment.

"F...fuck...you..." Faith growled. She could face death with a little bit of dignity, anyway. It was this will that stopped the pained scream from coming out when Buffy grabbed a fist-full of her hair. She did manage to spit at the blond, hitting her on the corner of her face.

Buffy pulled back and wiped away the blood that had hit the corner of her mouth. "You're a live wire, huh?" The shotgun was back in Faith's face, just under her chin. "I have a great way to pull the plug. You don't tell me what I want to here, you turn into a billion little dust bunnies. Got it?"

Wonderful. Not only was Faith going to get killed by a demon, she was going to get killed by one of those really crazy ones.

Just as Buffy was about to ask her first question, the fire escape began to shake as thick boots pounded their way upwards. The blond slayer's eyes flicked over to the side, but her grip on the shotgun remained concrete.

She was going to kill them, Faith realized. Either blast them as they poked their heads over the side or let them get all the way up and then tear them to pieces and eat their insides or something. She knew what needed to be done.

"Watch out!" Faith screamed as the first group of SWAT members hit the roof tiles. Buffy pulled the trigger a second too late to take off Faith's head, but the brunette's arm suffered dearly. Dozens of shots tore through the flesh and muscle in it, shattering bone and spraying blood everywhere, but the slayer was running on pure adrenalin by this point.

Both Buffy and Faith hit the ground, the latter on top, trying to hold the blond in place. "Get the fuck out of here!" Faith was yelling to the police. "I can't hold her for much longer! I can't-"

A loud crack sounded as the butt of an officer's rifle cold-cocked the side of Faith's head. Stunned, the slayer could only watch in growing horror as several guns were trained on her. One of the cops was even helping the demon to her feet.

"Is she a...demon?" the cop asked. He had never seen one before so he was a bit shaken up.

Now nothing made sense to Faith. The girl wasn't attacking the police, she was being treated like a criminal, and they thought _**she**_ was the demon? Faith desperately wanted to say something, but the haziness in her head was making that difficult.

Buffy was silent for a few moments as she weighed her options. "...I don't think she is. She's breathing, so that means she's not a vampire, and her blood is red. That takes out most of the local demon types that I know about." Yes, the girl wasn't a demon at all. "Take her to the hospital before she bleeds to death, I'll find someone to get to the bottom of this."

When the order was given, a team of paramedics was allowed up to the roof with a stretcher. They slipped a neck brace onto Faith and lifted her up to the stretcher. Distantly, Faith could hear them talking about a concussion, but there was nothing the girl could do at this point. Instead, she kept watching the blond demon hovering on the edge of her vision. When the medics stuck a needle in her arm, Faith could feel what little bit of consciousness she had left fading away. Before everything was up, though, she reached out with her good arm and caught the hem of Buffy's jacket. "W...we ain't..d-done..."

The blond lightly unclasped Faith's hand and folded over the unconscious girl's chest. "Somehow I get the feeling we never will be," Buffy mumbled. She licked her lips a few times to get them moist and was happy to taste a little bit of her bourbon still on them.

"Miss, do you need a handkerchief?"

The blond turned with an odd expression, her tongue still idly licking away. "Hmm? Why do I need one?" She was even more confused when the officer made a face that was somewhere between disgusted and terrified. "What is it?" she asked, growing annoyed.

"To...to wipe off that girl's blood...it is...was...all over your face." Buffy abruptly stop enjoying herself and her eyes widened so much they threatened to split her skin. That had been...blood? It didn't taste like blood...

That can't be a good sign...


	6. Long Day's Night

"Ah, I have it! Her name is Faith Lehane," Giles declared, ending the biggest mystery of the day. Vanquished, it was, not by the sword, but by the watcher's ever-present contacts at the Council. "Born in 1981 in a small suburb of Boston. Her watcher's name is, er, _was_, Diana Dormer. It would seem that Faith is the true second Slayer."

Giles, Willow, and Xander had been in full research mode ever since an anonymous call came to Giles' apartment the night before. The person on the line had directed him to a particular room at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital and the odd girl within. Although sedated, battered, and seemingly at death's door, the Watcher had almost instantly recognized that this girl was either a potential Slayer or the next in line after Kendra. No other creature but a Slayer, human or otherwise, could have possibly remained alive after such a beating.

Xander was the first to shut his section of books. He had been slated to randomly looking through the large plethora of Californian yearbooks that were on file, trying to match a face. "Great! Did you get her medical history? I think she's going to be needing it for a loooong time."

"Do you know what happened to her yet?" Willow asked, ignoring Xander. "S-she didn't look too good."

"Oh, come on! We know what happened to her!" Xander replied, again voicing his opinion. "My guess is that psycho Buffy found her and didn't want some competition."

The Watcher, who had been listening silently up until now, slipped off his glasses to clean them. "Now, we don't know that. Slayers have, in the past, been brought low by a simple vampire before they can acquire the experience needed to defend themselves properly. In fact, that's how a majority of them die." He didn't mean to sound somber, but it was just a fact of being in this business. "And do you believe that Buffy has fallen so far? You were her friends for over a year now," he pointed out.

Neither Willow nor Xander replied, each silently answering the question. Buffy, the old Buffy, would have never killed anyone. No matter what, it wouldn't happen. That image of their friend had been shattered in one stroke and neither teen was going to recover anytime soon.

Willow, however, at least tried to stay positive. "Do you think Faith is awake yet? We could just ask her instead of sitting here wondering."

"Excellent idea, Willow. When I talked to the hospital last, they had finished removing all of the...shot, as they called it, from her arm. I believe it would be alright for a quick visit," Giles agreed. "At the very least, we can find out what happened to her Watcher. The Counsel has no idea what lead up to the poor woman dying the way she did."

Though no one was really as enthusiastic as Giles, they had nothing better to do at the moment so they went along without issue. Since they all couldn't fit in Giles' tiny car, Oz offered up his van for the trip and they were all soon on the way to Sunnydale Memorial. The mood wasn't lifted by Willow's attempt at idle chit-chat and Xander was still being broody.

It wasn't as if Giles didn't share their concerns. From what he had seen of Faith's injuries, Buffy, or whoever else it could be, didn't hold back in the least. Not only that, they were using firearms. That was something expressly forbidden by the Council. An armed slayer would be entirely too liable to screw up. At least, that was the common consensus among watchers. Slayers were already too willfully violent in the first place; give them something as simply destructive as a weapon and who knows what could happen. Not that there was much Giles could do about it even if he knew for sure it was Buffy. The entire situation was entirely too vague.

"Giles? Giles? G-Maaaaaaaan?"

Xander's annoying prattling in the watcher's ear pulled him out of his thoughts. In the distance, he could see the top of the hospital. "Yes? What is it?" he asked, trying not to be too snippy.

"Willow just asked you how you knew Faith was in the hospital in the first place," Xander repeated.

"Oh, that," Giles didn't particularly like to admit just how he had gotten a late-night call from heavens knows who. "A contact at the hospital called me." Wasn't untrue in the strictest sense. Fortunately, no one read too much into his tone.

The rest of the short trip devolved into uncomfortable silence, only broken once by Oz laying on the van's horn when a black sedan cut him off coming out of the hospital parking lot. That little bit of excitement didn't overcome the macabre mood, though.

As was always the case in this town, the hospital lobby was full. Random injuries, crazies, and lawyers were lined up on either side and they all eyed the odd group that walked up to the front counter. The nurse on duty, a large, angry-looking woman, looked down over her glasses at the watcher when he rang the little bell.

"Visitors for Faith Lehane."

With a sigh, the nurse typed in the name and then looked back up. "Rupert Giles? That you?" When he nodded, she continued, "Sign here, here, here aaaaand here."

When Giles was done, he waved over the rest of the group. "We can visit her now. She's on the second floor in intensive care, though they are about to move her."

"What was that all about?" Xander asked.

Giles took off his glasses to clean them as he waited for the elevator to return to the first floor. "The Council has decided to place her under my care in addition to Buffy."

"Buffy's AWOL," Xander grumbled.

"We don't know that. She's hasn't officially broken ties with myself or the Council," Giles reminded. He poignantly ignored the snort from the young man.

On the second floor, things were a bit more organized. The rooms were quiet, the nurses organized, and no patients walking about. In a town like Sunnydale, Giles supposed that there had to be some semblance of order for the patients even if the rest of the hospital was chaotic. Faith's room was at the end of the far hallway and the group lost no time in getting there.

As they walked, Willow brought up an interesting point. "Giles, what is Faith like? Do you know?"

"No, I do not. I only waited for her name before we decided to come down here. I do know that she was identified as a potential slayer late in life. Other than that, I have no idea as to her personality. I'm sure, though, she's very pleasant."

"Yeah, because the current slayer is a real bag of joy."

Giles couldn't even find the energy to reprimand Xander any longer. He was actually hoping that Faith would turn out more like Kendra, himself. Perhaps she could even speak with Buffy and get her to open up? His actual slayer had warmed up to the Scottish teen fast enough. The more Giles thought about it, the more pleased he was with this plan of action. He would see how Faith is doing, find out what vampire put her here in the hospital, and then inform Buffy that a new slayer had arrived. Then they could all sit down and...and...dear god.

As Giles pushed open Faith's hospital door, the group ground to a halt behind him as he was too stunned to move. There, looming over Faith, was none other than Buffy Summers. She was holding an obviously irate sister-slayer to the bed and there was a faint spot of blood seeping through the brunette's hospital gown. Finally snapping out of it due to someone pushing on his back, he rushed in followed by Xander, Oz, Cordelia, and and Willow, bursting into the room just as Buffy was pulling her arm back for a punch...

* * *

Buffy had just arrived at the hospital a few minutes prior. After clearing things up with the police, and getting a decent night's sleep for once, she had came to check up on Sunnydale's newest arrival.

It was strange seeing the girl like this. Buffy had seen dead bodies before, even people she had killed, but this was different. Before, it had been impersonal. Just a quick pull of a trigger. This time, though, she had stalked, ran down, and beaten someone nearly to death.

"And gotten almost as good as I got," she murmured. A nurse had pulled her aside the second she had seen the large welt developing under her eye. Now Buffy had a slayer-sized bandage taking up the majority of her cheek.

The blond pulled Faith's chart and flipped through it, even though she really didn't know what she was looking at. Fractures, gunshot, concussion; those things Buffy understood.

Really, Buffy didn't know why she was even here. It was a simple mistake and the other girl was sure to understand. In fact, she could probably just leave a note or something. "Sorry for beating you up. Promise that I won't do it again. Signed, Buffy." Yup. That would be all she had to do.

Too bad that Buffy's conscience wasn't letting leave. She had repeated the same arguments over and over again on her way over to the hospital, on the way up on the elevator, and stated once more before opening the door to Faith's room. When she had actually seen the girl, laying in bed with tubes coming out of her, all those thoughts had gone right out the door.

It was silly. Why had Buffy thought that just because she had ran out on her mom, Giles, everyone else, and gotten her hands dirty that she would suddenly become an emotionless killing machine? Not that she wanted to become a killing machine.

"Stupid morality," she grumbled. Thus, Buffy was playing bedside maid to Faith until she woke up. Not like Faith would be happy that the person who had beat her senseless and tried to slay her would be the first thing she saw upon waking up.

"You know, it's really all your fault. If you hadn't acted all demon-y I wouldn't have had to beat you up. I bet you're a selfish type of person. Probably used to people waiting on you hand and foot." Faith certainly looked like the type. Beautiful, had on real leather, and had just a presence that screamed "I'm the boss."

Buffy leaned over the bed to get a better look at the machines on the other side. Faith's pulse was steady, apparently, and Buffy couldn't imagine any reason she wouldn't be up. "I bet you're just sleeping or something. Probably enjoying me squirming like this."

"Good guess, Blondie."

It was only after she was slugged in the face that Buffy realized she had walked right into that one. "Probably deserved that," the blond slayer grunted. She caught the next punch, though. "Though, I've never been the type to take my due lumps." Faith struggled to get her working hand out of Buffy's grip, but couldn't due to the leverage the other slayer had on her.

"You're like a snake or something. Hold still!" Even though the other girl had been shot and had half her bones broke or busted, it was hard for Buffy to keep her still. "That's blood, you know," she stated when Faith tried to move her other arm. Now the machines were starting to beep and beeping in a hospital was never, ever good. Deciding to take the initiative, Buffy bent back Faith's arm and pressed her other to her bleeding to keep it still. Maybe she could just bludgeon Faith into settling down...

It was then that the door burst open. "Buffy! Don't-don't kill her!"

Oh no. Just when things couldn't get any worse. That, and the pose she had been caught in hadn't been the best. "I'm trying to keep her from-" Another hit deflected. Where had Faith gotten that drinking glass from? "-killing me, Will!"

"Stop doing a good job at it!" Great. At least Faith was lucid enough to be snippy.

"Yeah, well, not like she wouldn't have a reason for that," Xander spat. He was far enough away to effectively make a break out the door should Buffy go psycho on him. "Not like she got _**shot**_ or something."

"Enough!" Giles' bellow was forceful enough to silence the whole lot even if his countenance wasn't quite so inspiring. "Buffy, what are you- no, no. You should leave."

Buffy couldn't believe it. She had come here to check in on the person who had tried to kill her and _she_ was the bad guy? It took an iron will to not fly off the handle right then and there. "I'm not going anywhere," the senior slayer finally declared. She sat down in one of the chairs by the bed, but out of Faith's reach, and gave the impression that she honestly meant it.

Seeing that this was going to be one of the difficult days, Giles pulled a chair somewhat between Faith and Buffy to play mediator. Not that he wanted to be between two angry slayers.

"Now that no one is attempting to kill someone else, why don't we run through what exactly happened last night? In nice-"

"This bitch tried to kill me!"

"You were acting like a vampire!"

"...quiet voices." Giles took a deep breath drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair while Buffy and Faith bickered back and forth. At least the rest of the group was smart enough to keep their own quips to themselves. As far as Giles had heard so far, in between the shouts, was that there had been a fight and a mutual misunderstanding involving vampires. It would be comedic if it didn't involve the two beating each other to a pulp.

Finally, Giles had heard enough. "Well, it seems that you both had an interesting night." He had stood up and blocked the girl's view of each other which ground the discussion to a halt for a moment. "Buffy, this is...this is inexcusable. You nearly killed Faith."

Buffy glared through her eyelashes at her watcher. Since when didn't people take her side? "I'm here, aren't I? I even had my driver call you last night! I didn't just toss her into a gutter or something."

"People better stop talking like I'm not laying right here," Faith snarled. "Somebody better give me some damn answers or we're gonna have some problems."

"Ah, hi!" Willow, eager to avoid any more of the yelling, tittered over to the other side of the bed. She held out her hand and Faith reluctantly shook it. "We're the support team!" Willow looked over at Buffy and Giles and her smile slipped."Or, we were the support team."

Faith nodded like she really didn't understand. "Yeah, whatever. I totally want to talk about this when I'm laying in a **fucking** hospital bed with a **few** **dozen** **holes in my arm.**"

The not-so-sudden outburst made the entire room very aware of just how pissed Faith was getting. Giles cringed at his rudeness and promptly turned around.

"Oh, yes. I'm dreadfully sorry about that, Faith." Giles straighted up and cleared his throat in a manner her assumed made him look more dignified. "I am Rupert Giles. Your temporary watcher."

"Whoa, watcher? You're her watcher?!" Buffy was on her feet now. "When did this happen?"

Giles pulled off his glasses and once again gave them a good cleaning. "Since this morning. Faith's original watcher has since..." he trailed off.

"Just say it. She died."

No matter how it was said, Giles was still uncomfortable. "Yes, well, that. In any event, I'm technically your defacto guardian at the moment as well. How is your condition?"

From this point, Buffy started to drift out of the conversation. No one was even paying her any attention anymore, anyway. Of course, why should they? Hello!Shiny new slayer! Maybe they could use and abuse this one, too.

"Well, you all seem to have everything under control here. I'll just go and wash this blood off my hand here...yeah, no one is even listening." Buffy simply got up and walked into the little bathroom that was adjacent to the main room.

The blood on her hand was still pretty fresh and Buffy caught it in her other before it could drip. She didn't want to get it on the floor; at least, that's what she told herself. When she turned on the faucet, though, Buffy hesitated.

It was just...pooling there in her palm. The blond moved her hand and watched the red liquid languidly swill around. She started to hold it up closer but it moved and a large drop rolled off her palm. At the last second, Buffy's tongue whipped out and caught the red drop on the tip.

The taste was so different than anything Buffy had ever experienced. Now, when the adrenalin wasn't running and there was nothing else to dull her senses, it was one hundred fold. And that was only a drop! There was still so much left on her hand. She could just...take another...

"Buffy, are you alright?"

Buffy jumped and her hand quickly went under the spray. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just washing my hands, Giles. Don't people ever knock anymore?!"

"I did. Several times." Now Giles had on his concerned face and that wouldn't go over well if he noticed something.

"Guess I just spaced out. Can I go now?" Buffy hurriedly asked. She wanted to be gone before Giles could smell the blood on her breath...or something. "You've got a new slayer to deal with, I have some more errands to run..." She made a little hurry up motion with her hands.

Giles blinked and quickly moved out of the way. "Yes, of course. Perhaps it would be best if you, um, perhaps Faith would-"

"Yeah, sure." She brushed past the British man and made for the door, but stopped when Giles tugged on her shirt.

"Thank you, Buffy. I...apologize. What you did was incredibly misguided, but you didn't have to take care of Faith and yet you did."

Great. Now she was getting thanks for not being a murderer. "Like I said; sure."

It was then that Buffy noticed the nurse standing by Faith. She also noticed that she was taking...blood...with a giant needle. An entire vial of it. "What...what's the nurse doing...?" she asked, enraptured by the sight.

Distractedly, Giles looked over at the bed. "What? Oh! Taking some blood. They need a few more samples for the lab. Why do you...Buffy? Buffy, where did you go?"

* * *

"This is so very wrong."

Wrong or not, Buffy was still slinking down the hallway in search of something. Slipping past a half-aware nurse at her station, the blond managed to get into the blood bank without much trouble.

It was wrong, it was disgusting, it went against just about anything and everything being the slayer could possibly stand for. And yet...

Blood, pack by pack, filled the cold storage to the very brim. Buffy's fingers were buzzing each time her skin made contact with the plastic sacks, but she was looking for only one in particular. Finally, the Slayer pulled forth her prize; several freshly-drawn packs of blood from one Faith Lehane. If touching the other packs made her skin tingle, then Buffy was on fire at the moment.

The thick liquid inside the plastic rolled under the teen's thumb as the Slayer fought with herself. This was sick; she was a human, a vampire hunter. How could she want to...to..._drink_...this blood so much? Even now, Buffy could remember how intoxicating it had been both times she had given in. Right now, the most pressing thing was simply to get another taste.

"I need help...so much help...and a mug. Or maybe a straw...no! Bad Buffy!" Even though the girl was babbling to herself, her situation wasn't improving. Calmly, meticulously, Buffy sat the blood pack down on a nearby counter and took a few steps back. This did little for her temperament, though, as she still had an urge to go and drink the thing dry.

There was only one thing to do in a situation like this; call for help. Taking a calming breath, Buffy abruptly turned away from the blood pack and pulled out her cellphone. She quickly dialed the numbers of the one person who could have the answers. "B-boss? Are you there?" Buffy timidly called out when she heard a click come from her phone.

A light crackling came through, probably from interference from withing the hospital itself, before the Slayer received a reply. "Buffy? Is that you?" Mayor Wilkins sounded fairly groggy and Buffy only just realized that she had probably woken him up. "Good golly, it's seven am! It's a Saturday!"

"Boss, I'm at the hospital and I need some help." There was an immediate flurry from the other end of the line and Buffy rushed to explain. "I'm not hurt or anything! I'm just...you know...visiting someone. A friend."

Wilkins sighed and slumped back down into his chair. "Well, that was a scare," he said, rolling his neck to get out some of the tension. "What do you need help now for that couldn't wait until, say, noon? Sometimes sleeping in is a good thing! I know that kids these days don't think that sleep is important, but I assure you that a balanced breakfast an a good night's sleep can do wonde-"

"I broke into the blood bank and I think I'm going to go insane if I don't drink this packet of blood I stole!" Buffy interrupted in one long statement. That she actually interrupted the Mayor, even when he was on one of his values rants, was a clear sign of how freaked the she was at the moment. Buffy was slowly getting closer and closer to the counter where she had left the blood and was now crouched down, eye-level with the packet as it sat there, calling out to her. "I really, really, really, _**really**_ need some advice here, Boss."

What the hell could be said to something like that? For sure, Mayor Wilkins was stunned. "Did you say..._blood_?" he parroted. He had been alive for over a hundred years and nothing like this had ever came up. Best to start with the basic things. "Ah...did you get..._bitten_...and not notice?"

The silence from Buffy let the Mayor know exactly what she thought of that suggestion.

Holding the phone between his face and shoulder, the ancient bureaucrat walked over to this "special" bookshelf that he kept at his home. It was full of old tomes and the like, but it would take a little time to sift through them all. "Alright, that _was_ a silly question. Just hold tight until I can get up the ingredients to a scanning spell."

Buffy heard what the Mayor had said as well as the speed at which he was getting things together. However, she was already picking up the pack of blood again. This time, she just couldn't resist poking a small hole in it and letting the red liquid drip onto her hand. Slowly, she brought her finger up to her mouth and took a lick.

If it was possible to bottle the feeling of a good orgasm, a good feast, and a good slay into one thing, this was it. Soon the blond was sucking a steady stream of blood from the pack, savoring the feel of the ticker-than-water liquid washing down her throat.

Was this what a vampire felt every time they ate? If so, Buffy could hardly fault them for craving blood 24/7. She hadn't felt this kind of rush since fighting the Master after popping back from the dead.

"Alright, I've got the ingredients. Just sit tight for a bit and I'll see what's going on."

The Mayor's voice blaring out of her cellphone jolted Buffy back from the euphoric edge. "Wha? Oh, right. Whatever." The Slayer was still pretty out of it as she continued to nurse her nearly-empty blood pack.

Ignoring the stoner-like response he had gotten, Wilkins began his ritual spell. A few mumbled lines later and he had a clear picture of what was going on inside Buffy's body. "Well, it's not a curse," he stated with certainty.

"Mmm-hmm." Buffy was trying to get her buzz back and was only half-listening. She had run out of blood, though. Walking back over to the cabinet, she pulled out a random pack and tore it open with her teeth. That rash action proved to be a bad one as the moment the new blood hit Buffy's lips, she was gagging and spitting it up.

"Ugh! This stuff is horrible!" she shouted, wiping her mouth with whatever piece of cloth she could find. The Slayer checked the date as that seemed to be a logical thing to do, not that she had any experience with blood. "Fresh? Same date as Faith's..."

It hadn't tasted anything like the other slayer's blood, though. Whereas Faith's blood was thick and went down smooth as silk, this new batch was out and out disgusting. The rotten taste was still there even after washing out her mouth with a mouthful of water from a nearby sink. It was only after Buffy had squeezed the last bit of blood from Faith's pack that the nauseous feeling left her.

Of course, none of this went unnoticed by the Mayor. "Buffy? Are you sick? I'm checking your physical condition now." Again, though, nothing turned up strange. There was literally nothing wrong with the girl. Well, nothing magically or physically wrong. "Do you still have the cravings?"

"Uh, not anymore," Buffy admitted. As much as she tried to hide it, a small burp undercut just what had happened.

The Mayor didn't even need to continue the scanning spell to know what was going on. "You drank it, didn't you? Honestly, I thought you had more willpower than that, young lady!" He didn't sound too pleased, but he also didn't sound very worried.

Now that she was a bit more in control, and full, the gravity of what she had done hit Buffy. "Oh god, I just drank an entire blood bag..._**ewww**_!" The poor teen was furiously scraping away at her tongue with a towel in a vain attempt to somehow reverse course. "Tell me this wasn't my fault, Boss! There had to have been something!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Buffy," the Mayor admitted, "There is nothing magically wrong with you. No curses, no spells, no blood-craving parasites swimming around in your stomach. Those are particularity nasty, too. You're lucky!"

Lucky? Is that what the Mayor called this situation? "I just drank two hundred and fifty milliliters of blood and you call me lucky?! Just what the hell do you think is a good day? When the town doesn't spontaneously explode?"

Actually... "No need to get snippy about it! I said that there was nothing physically or magically wrong with you. It doesn't mean that you don't have a problem," he placated. "This could be outside of my understanding, Buffy. Do slayers have a history of this kind of behavior? First, we need to rule things out. Now, you're sure that you didn't get bitten by a vampire, so it's not that."

That wasn't a bad question. Buffy slumped back in her lab chair and tried to remember Giles ever mentioning something like this. Suddenly, an answer hit her, albeit one that Buffy didn't want to consider, and she shakily brought her cellphone back up to her ear. "A-Actually, I might have an idea. A few months ago, there was this kid in a coma. He was...I dunno, super psychic or something. Anyway, while he was out, everyone's worst nightmares started coming true. Willow had to sing, Giles thought I died, Xander was chased by clowns and I...became a vampire."

This particular memory was perhaps the most jarring thing to Buffy until now. It even beat out having to kill those people on the boat to save Finch and she was loath to speak of it. "I still remember it," Buffy whispered, "I was really a vampire. It was only for a few hours, but...but...I was dead. I remember how I felt, too. I was...hungry. I felt the same way tonight."

"...alright, that qualifies as a clue," the Mayor decided after a long period of silence. "Did anything happen that could have reminded you of the time you spent as a vampire? Maybe something you saw?"

"Maybe something I ate? Could the blood might have done it? I, um, had a bit last night. By accident."

"By...accident."

The Mayor's tone was what one would call _skeptical_. Not that Buffy could blame him, oh no. If, say, a vampire with blood all over said, "This nubile virgin just fell onto my fangs!" the slayer would probably have popped off its head after beating it to a pulp. More so than usual.

"It really wasn't on purpose," was Buffy's oh-so-innocent response. "It just sort of...happened! You know?" Of course the Mayor wouldn't know. He wasn't a whacked-out slayer on a blood high.

"Perhaps it would be best if you got _away_ from the blood, Buffy, until I can get you back down to the office and really do a proper scan."

But Buffy wasn't in the mood to just sit around. "No, I-I gotta go do something. I just feel...restless." Before Wilkins could reply, the slayer hung up.

The question now facing Buffy was where she should go. She felt good. Damn good. It was like being pulled back to life after the Master had killed her. Some kind of primeval mojo was boiling in her veins, just itching to get out and wreck some demon's day. As she snuck out of the blood bank, Buffy intended to do just that after a quick stop at Willies to scare him for some information. That was her plan last night, but things turned ugly before she got the chance. She was sure the annoying bar owner would be down there today, surveying the damage...

* * *

"I want that slayer **now**, Tick!"

Kakistos was not a happy demon. Not only was he surrounded by idiots, he also had to put up with the lippy vampires he had picked up in Sunnydale. Apparently they were used to getting treated like something other than the lowest creatures in existence. Well, after killing a few, the rest wised up, but it was still annoying.

Currently, his base of operations consisted of nothing but an old factory warehouse. Not quite the sequestered Greek villa he had grown up in nor was it the lavish abandoned subway tunnel he had in Boston, but it would do for now. Tick had taken a day to set up his computer network and Kakistos expected results for his patience.

The technologically-inclined demon whom was being yelled at poked his head out from behind his laptop screen. If this job didn't pay so well... "I'm working on it. Finding a slayer in this city isn't as easy as you think. I have to check bank records, transactions, and transit receipts. Faith could be anywhere." Not to mention Tick was getting some disturbing information from the vampires that had joined on. They said the slayer was named Buffy, not Faith, and that she worked for the mayor of Sunnydale. He had brought this up to Kakistos and the elder demon had told him to keep an eye on it. However, everyone know that there was only one slayer at a time. It could just be a particularly powerful potential or something. Either way, he wanted a chance to eventually take this "Buffy" on.

As Tick was sifting through information, something caught his attention. He had routed the factory district's cameras onto his laptop to keep an eye out and now he was glad he did. There was a delectable little morsel wandering around. Probably around sixteen, blond, and ripe-looking. "Boss, are you hungry?" Tick called out. He turned his laptop around so the one-eyed elder could get a look. "Did I tell you how much I love this town? Dinner is delivery."

"I am a bit peckish," Kakistos admitted. He motioned for some of the vampires lounging around to go and fetch the girl. Today there was a heavy overcast so the sun wouldn't be a problem. While they were gone, he started pacing. "Do you have anything **yet**, Tick?"

"A few things. Faith rode into town day before yesterday on a bus. I've...almost...got...it. Got an address. She's staying at a motel on the other side of town." Sometimes Tick even impressed himself. "We can go after lunch."

Finally! Kakistos actually smiled, letting his fangs pop out over his lip in anticipation. He would have a small bite now before the main course. "Good work, Mr. Tick. Faith is going to experience every moment I've been in pain because of this eye. Every moment. I will rip her spine from her body and wear it as a belt before I drain her body of every fluid."

"Faith has a habit of pissing people off, huh?"

"You have no idea," Kakistos snarled, working himself up even more. "She is the most annoyingly persistent slayer I have ever crossed paths with. Like a fungus."

"Oh, I completely agree. One second she's helpless and the next she's trying to beat you senseless for taking time out of **your** life to see how she's doing. Can you believe that?"

That was the Bostonian to a tee. Well, without the seeing how she was doing bit. "I didn't think any of you knew Faith? I don't like being lied to."

"Well, I don't know you that well. This is our first date, after all."

Confused, Kakistos turned around. Instead of seeing a female vampire, like he expected, he only saw a first flying towards his face. It hit him like a brick wall and sent him spinning in the air, landing on Tick's computer desk and destroying everything there. When his head stopped spinning, the demon looked up to see the little blond girl he had sent after. "You! I'll have your skull for a cup for that."

Buffy, nonplussed by the threat, twirled her stake like a baton. She hadn't brought her shotgun with her as it was back at her apartment and she was almost missing it. Kakistos was a bit bigger than she had thought and he had a lot more hired help. Still, the slayer had taken out a few outside and none inside looked like they wanted to interrupt. Not that she'd let any of them go. They betrayed the Boss so they were dust.

The fight began in earnest when Kakistos threw what remained of Tick's table at the slayer. Buffy, to her own surprise, swatted it away like it was nothing. She chalked it up to adrenalin and the lingering buzz she still had. Rushing in, the slayer lashed out with a backhand that easily got inside the demon's defenses, giving him yet another hard hit to the face. Buffy didn't know why Faith was afraid of this guy. So far, she wasn't having any trouble with him. "Come on, fight back or something!" she snapped, weaving around a slow punch and giving Kakistos a few dozen raps to the stomach for his trouble. It was as if Buffy were dancing around a stationary punching bag. She was on the tips of her toes, hands in a boxing position. In a word, the slayer was absolutely wired.

Sensing this, Kakistos backed off and grabbed a large block of wood to wield as a pole. If he could keep the slayer at a distance, perhaps he could fight her up against a wall and give her nowhere to dodge to. He lashed out with his makeshift weapon only to balk as it was broke in half by a well-timed kick from his opponent. Hell, even the girl seemed surprised.

Something was different, Buffy could feel it. She was faster, stronger, more aware than ever before. Her body was reacting in ways it had never done before in a fight, not even when she was really worked up. Kakistos, however, didn't seem to be taking the hint. He took Buffy's lack of attention as an opening and rushed in, putting everything he had into an offensive blitz of power.

Buffy flipped over the vampire's head, landing at his back. Marveling at the maneuver, Buffy realized that she hadn't ever done anything like it. "Why not?" she asked herself, easily ducking under a swipe by Kakistos. Buffy had jumped like that before, she cleared the school's twelve-foot gate regularly, but never in a fight. The answer soon came to her; Buffy used to feel uneasy in the air. Even the slight leaps over attacks would make her more wary.

Not now, though.

Kakistos' head snapped to the side as Buffy bounded off of the wall to roundhouse him. Before he could gather his wits, his head was assaulted again but from the other side. The slayer had managed to already gain a foothold somewhere else and launch herself at him, talking to herself all the while. She wasn't even paying attention to the fight!

If that was the way the slayer wanted to attack, then so be it. The ancient and experienced vampire let the next hit land, but grabbed the girl's leg in his vice-like grip. He swung her up and then swung down as if he were wielding an ax about to take off someone's head. In this case, he was just looking to snap the puny blond in half. Instead of that satisfying crunch, though, all he got was a grunt.

A grunt as Buffy stopped herself from landing face-first by putting out her arms.

It was impossible! Her limbs should have snapped like twigs from the force of his attack! Kakistos was forced to let go as Buffy's free leg whipped out and stomped his fangs in. His mouth was pouring blood from having a boot heel forced-fed to him. "Tick! Get over here, Tick!" he cried, but no one answered. In fact, none of his minions were left to help him. As Buffy took a step forward, he involuntarily took one back.

"Big bad Taco isn't so tough now, is he?" Buffy scoffed. She walked the vamp all the way to the other side of the room, much to the growing hysteria of the ancient demon. "You can't get away from me. I'm between you and the sewer entrance. Whatcha gonna do, tough guy? Afraid of little me? I thought you wanted to kill the slayer."

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Kakistos tried to buy time. "It wasn't you I wanted to kill! It was the other one!"

Buffy stopped. "You mean...Faith? You came here after Faith?" Now things were making sense. "Why? What did she do to you?" This was a chance to learn more about Faith without out and out asking.

"She killed my pet alligator."

Okay, that was not what Buffy had expected. "That's it? An alligator?" Why the hell would a vampire even have an alligator?

"And the eye! She did this to my eye! I killed her watcher for that and now I'll kill her."

Buffy blinked. "You do realize that I'm **right here**? I'm not going to let you just kill her."

Kakistos snorted. "And why not? I know who you are, Buffy Summers. You work for the power in this town, not the Watchers Council. Why don't you ask your boss if he would want another slayer running around. It would be better if you let me deal with her and move on." When Buffy paused, the demon gained back some of his bravado. It was a good thing Tick had dug all this information up earlier. "I swear to you that I will not recruit any more vampires from this town. That's why you were sent to kill me, right?"

As much as Buffy hated to admit it, the demon had a point. Her orders were to just deal with the problem of the vamps working for someone else; nothing more. Faith, too, would probably be a problem later on. Buffy doubted, after last night, that the brunette would listen to her and come to work for the Mayor. It also complicated her relationship with Giles and her friends. What if they just...replaced her? Faith could just step into her life. In fact, it would be best if Faith just moved along out of town...

"If you help me deal with Faith, I'll even join your master here," Kakistos continued. "If you just tell me where she is, I'll work for him. I want revenge; nothing else matters to me at the moment. Think of all the knowledge and experience I could bring to this little city! I have lived for centuries; I could bring every demon in North America to the bargaining table. Think what that could do for you and yours!"

And Buffy did think.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Giles and the others had finally left Faith to herself. The slayer hated so many people being in her room at one time. In fact, she was sure she'd just hate half of the people that had visited today even if they had came one at a time.

Okay, they weren't all bad. That Oz guy was kinda cool, being all quiet and stuff. Willow had been fine as well. That Xander guy, though, was all over the place. Not bad to look at, but annoying as shit. Giles...well, she didn't know what to think of the old librarian. He was cute, for an old guy, but he seemed to think she was going to stick around. After what happened to Faith's last watcher, the girl would have thought she would be on the first bus out of town, but Giles had began talking about places to live. He was even offering her a place to stay until she figured it out.

Not that Faith wanted to stay. She had came here to dump Kakistos on Buffy and then get out. Maybe find out a bit about the other slayer before she did. That hadn't gone over too well, obviously. She would win next time, though. No way in hell she was going to get laid up like this again, that was for damn sure. The little blond had just gotten lucky with the cops coming when they did, otherwise Faith would have never taken a shot like that. And next time she'd watch her back. Little girly coward, attacking her from behind. What kind of slayer did that?

"Faith, you home?"

Speak of the devil. "I was just thinking about you, blondie," Faith said as Buffy poked her head inside the door. "Thinking about all the ways I'm going to make you pay for this when I get out of here."

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked around. "Giles isn't here? Good." She stepped fully into the room, but left the door cracked. Probably in case Faith had managed to heal up enough to rush her. "So...how are you feeling?"

"How the fuck do you think I'm feeling? I've had nurses poking me for the last hour because they lost all the blood they poked out of me yesterday," she snarled. "And now I have to put up with you. What the fuck do you want?"

"Fine, I came down here to be nice, but if you want to be a bitch, then that just makes this easier," Buffy replied. Her annoyed face turned impish as she walked to the foot of the bed. She had a hand behind her back, hiding something from Faith's sight. "I have someone who wants to meet you, Faith. He's wanted to get you face to face for a **long** time."

The dark slayer was in no mood for this. "Cut the shit, Buffy. What do you want that can't wait for me to stomp your ass into a paste? We both know there's no one in this damn town that knows me."

"Oh? Kakistos seemed to know you quite well, Faith."

Faith's blood ran cold. "How do you know about Kakistos?" she asked, her voice having lost all its hostility. There was now just a dull, plane fear that was easy to hear.

Buffy shrugged. "I met him on patrol. Nice guy, weird hands, bad eye. Well, you know him better than me. Anyway, he really wanted to find you, so I brought him down here." The slayer ignored Faith's shocked visage, and slowly walked up the side of the bed. "He also said that if I kill you, he'd do me a favor. A _**big**_ favor. I told him I'd think about it."

The blond was now right beside Faith's head and the brunette couldn't do a thing. She was stunned into inaction. Not only did Kakistos know where she was, he also had gotten the girl who nearly killed her on his side. With a snarl, she pulled it together. "Well? Fucking do it. Don't just stand there like a bitch; do it!"

"Gladly." Faith braced herself for whatever it was that the other slayer had planned. The hidden arm came from behind Buffy's back and...and...pulled out a little plastic bottle.

Buffy shook the bottle, rattling the ashes inside. "I gathered all the dust I could find since I didn't know if you wanted to keep a memento. There was a **lot** of dust. He was a big demon, you know?" Smiling at Faith's dumbstruck look, Buffy set the bottle down on the table beside Faith's bed. "If you don't want to keep it, you can just toss it."

"You...you killed him?" Faith couldn't believe it. She fumbled to roll over and grasp at the bottle. With a little difficulty, she unscrewed the top and let the ashes fall over her hand. "He's dead. He's dead!" She looked up at Buffy who was just staring back, uncertain of what would come next. "This doesn't mean that I owe you anything," Faith said, making sure to state that outright. She didn't owe people.

"It makes us even," Buffy countered. She was already walking to the door. Pausing at the frame, she turned back. "Faith, take care of them for me, okay?" She didn't wait on a response and instead slipped out into the hallway.

As she listened to Buffy's boots get fainter and fainter, Faith took several long, deep breaths before settling down into her pillow. She tossed the bottle into the trash and put her arms behind her head, smiling for the first time in a long time.

Maybe, just maybe, Sunnydale might not be too bad after all. Could be a nice place to stay awhile...


End file.
